JYAOE  OF  THE 

EUTSCHLAND 

CAPT.  PAUL  KOENIO 


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VOYAGE  OF  THE 
DEUTSCHLAND 


@  Int.  Film  Service 

Captain  Paul  K()NIG 

Fi-diii   n   iilinl(iL;r;uili   taken  on   tin-  niiitsrhhunl 
■At  Baltimnvo 


VOYAGE  OF  THE 

DEUTSCHLAND 


THE  FIRST  MERCHANT  SUBMARINE 


BY 


CAPTAIN  PAUL  KONIG 


NEW  YORK 

HEARST'S 

INTERNATIONAL 
1916 

LIBRARY 

CO. 

1      * 

>  >      . 

>  J     J   J    »     J      J 
»       w      »     *  »     >       6 

J  9          >         >      > 

>  >    »     >      J 

>         3     3  ]       9      3 

COPTEIGHT,    1916,  BY 

Hearst's  International  Library  Co.,  Inc. 

All  rights  reserved,  including  the  translation  into  foreian 
langiiages,  including  the  Scandinavian. 


PRINTED   IN   THE    V.   S.    A. 


SCHLUETER  PTG.  CO.,  NEW  YORK 


CD 


5'=I2. 

3^    Kt 


PACE 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

.                Introduction i^ 

V"  I.  How  Germany  Got  the  U-Deutsch- 

^  land,  and  How  the  U-Deutscliland 

-d                     Got  Me 1 

,           II.  Trial  Trip  and  Outward  Bound  .     .  12 

(O         III.  The  First  Day  at  Sea 20 

"^          IV.  The  XT-Boat  Trap 35 

V.  Head  Downwards  in  the  North  Sea.  48 

>- 

3        VI.  Westward  Ho ! •  61 

VII.  In  the  Atlantic      ......  72 

VIII.  Hell  With  the  Lid  On 109 

IX.  America 121 

X.  Baltimore 136 

XI.  Farewell  to  Baltimore      ....  160 

XII.  Breaking  Through 183 

XIII.  Homeward  Bound 191 

XIV.  Home  Again 211 

XV.  How  Germany  Welcomed  Us  Back  .  218 

[V] 


MG5f-| 


„Zum  Kiimpfen  und  Streiten  man  rufet  Eueh  nieht, 
Zum  friedlichen  Handel  fiibrt  Euch  die  Pflicht, 
Cluck  auf  denn !   Gott  mit  Eucli,  er  segne  die  Fahrt, 
Seid  waeker  und  mutig  naeh  eeht  deutseber  Art; 
Dass  wieder  ibr  kebrt  in  die  Heimat  zuriick, 
Ganz  DeutscblandEueb  wiinscbet  berzinniglicb  Gliiek !" 

Heinrich,  Prinz  von  Preussen. 

Herrn  Kapitan  Konig, 
dem  Flihrer  des  ersten 

deutschen  Handels-U-Bootes 


[vi] 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACING   PAOE 

Capt.  Paul  Konig.  From  a  photograph  taken  on  the 
Deutschland  at  Baltimore        .  .      .  .     Frontispiece 

Capt.  Paul  Konig.  Prom  a  photograph  taken  in 
Bremen  before  the  war     .  .      16 

The  Deutschland  coming  up  Chesapeake  Bay  on  the 
way  to  Baltimore        17 

The  American  manager  of  the  German  Ocean  Navi- 
gation Co.,  welcoming  Captain  Konig  on  his  arrival 
at  quarantine,  Baltimore ,  .     32 

Posing  for  their  first  American  photograph.  A  por- 
tion of  the  crew  on  the  stern  of  the  Deutschland 
on  its  way  up  Chesapeake  Bay 33 

The  tug  Timmins  conveying  the  Deutschland  from 
quarantine  to  Baltimore   .  .      .  .      ,  .      48 

A  three-quarter  Adew  from  the  stern  of  the  Deutsch- 
land as  she  was  warped  into  her  berth  at  Baltimore     49 

Preparing  to  dock  at  Baltimore.  An  exceptional 
view  from  the  stern  showing  unique  construction .  .     64 

The  Deutschland  docking  at  Baltimore       65 

Left — Captain  Hinsch,  of  North  German  Lloyd.  Cen- 
ter— Capt.  Paul  Konig.  Right — Paul  G.  L.  Hilken, 
American  Manager  German  Ocean  Navigation 
Company        80 

Ashore  at  Baltimore  after  many  days  at  sea.  First 
picture  of  the  crew  of  the  Deutschland  taken  on 
arrival . ,     81 

Capt.  Paul  Konig.  Photograph  taken  in  Baltimore 
on  arrival  of  the  Deutschland 96 

Paul  G.  L.  Hilken,  American  Manager,  German 
Ocean  Navigation  Company 97 

A  close  view  of  the  commanding  tower  and  periscope 
of  the  Deutschland    .  .      .  .      112 

The  first  autographed  photograph  in  America  after 
the  arrival  of  the  Deutschland,  signed  by  Captain 
Konig,  First  Oflflcer  Krapohl,  and  Chief  Engineer 
Klees 113 


[  vii  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


PACING  PAGE 

The  last  photograph  of  the  Deutschland  leaving 
Baltimore.  The  VeutscMand  as  she  appeared  pass- 
ing out  to  sea  from  Chesapeake  Bay     ,  .      . .      . .   128 

The  creators  of  the  Submarine  Mercantile  Service. 
Director  Zetzmann,  builder  of  the  merchant  sub- 
marine, Deutschland.  Alfred  Lohmann,  founder  of 
the  German  Ocean  Navigation  Company 129 

Tip  the  Weser  to  Bremen.  The  Deutschland  receiving 
ovation  on  its  triumphant  return  to  Germany .  .  142-143 

A  broadside  view  of  the  submarine 160 

The  Deutschland  with  all  colors  set,  the  German  flag 
at  her  fore-peak,  the  United  States  flag  aft,  ap- 
proaching the  mouth  of  the  Weser 161 

The  triumphant  return  to  Germany.  The  Deutschland 
entering  the  mouth  of  the  Weser 176 

Home  at  last.  The  Deutschland  alongside  its  pier 
in  Bremen .  .      1 ' ' 

Welcoming  the  crew  of  the  Deutschland  at  the  City 
Hall  in  Bremen 192 

Captain  Konig  and  Dr.  Alfred  Lohmann,  President 
of  the  German  Ocean  Navigation  Company,  leav- 
ing reception  given  Captain  Konig  in  Bremen     . .   193 

Celebration  at  City  Hall,  Bremen,  August  25,  1916. 
The  crowd  in  front  numbered  many  thousands. 
The  officers  and  crew  on  the  balcony  acknowledging 
cheers .  .      208 

Portrait  of  officers  and  crew  of  Deutschland  taken 
on  their  arrival  at  the  mouth  of  the  Weser,  August 
23,  1916        ..209 

Interior  view  of  the  Deutschland.  The  central  con- 
trol or  navigating  room 224 

The  Deutschland  on  the  stocks.  Photograph  taken 
the  day  before  launching 225 


[  viii  ] 


INTRODUCTION 

The  mysterious  voyage  of  the  mer- 
chant submarine  Beutschland  has  now 
kept  the  attention  of  the  old  and  new 
world  under  strain  quite  long  enough. 
The  wildest  rumors  regarding  our  trip 
and  our  fate  have  cropped  up  in  in- 
numerable papers,  not  to  mention  the 
magnificent  flights  of  fiction  made  by 
the  English.  We  were  stranded,  we 
were  sunk — we  had  even  been  taken 
apart  and  sent  in  separate  packages  to 
America.  What  fun  we  used  to  have 
on  the  high  seas  when  our  wireless  op- 
erators would  catch  one  of  these  plump 
English  canards  in  full  flight!  I  there- 
fore have  the  greater  pleasure  in  giv- 

[ix] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

ing  a  longer,  more  detailed  description 
of  our  legendary  voyage  and  our  ad- 
ventures. 

The  voyage,  after  all,  was  far  from 
being  a  fabulous  one — for  this  would 
have  made  it  doubly  precarious.  And 
as  for  adventures,  we  naturally  avoided 
these  as  far  as  possible. 

I  hope,  therefore,  that  the  reader 
will  not  expect  a  whole  series  of  excit- 
ing episodes,  such  as  may  fall  to  the 
lot  of  a  military  submarine  in  the  war 
area.  Our  duty  was  as  follows:  to 
transport  our  valuable  cargo  to  Amer- 
ica as  smoothly,  and  with  as  few  inter- 
ruptions as  possible,  to  make  a  joke  of 
the  English  blockade,  and  to  return 
with  a  cargo  equally  valuable.  These 
things  we  accomplished,  and  I  shall 

[^1 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

now  describe  how  we  accomplished 
tliem. 

That  our  voyage  did  not  always  pro- 
ceed smoothly,  that  now  and  then  we 
found  ourselves  in  devilish  hot  water, 
that  this  or  that  did  not  come  off  ac- 
cording to  ]3rogram — ^was  entirely  ow- 
ing to  the  gentle  endeavors  of  the 
English.  The  reader  owes  them  thanks 
for  these  little  exciting  interludes.  The 
English,  to  be  sure,  despite  all  at- 
tempts, were  imable  to  hinder  our 
course — still  they  succeeded  in  giving 
additional  color  and  variety  to  my  ac- 
count of  it.  It  would  be  ungracious 
not  to  acknowledge  this. 

I  wish  to  express  my  special  thanks 
to  my  two  officers  of  the  watch,  Messrs. 
Krapohl  and  Eyring.    The  notes  taken 

[xi] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

by  these  two  gentlemen  completed  my 
own  on  many  points.  It  is  impossible 
for  a  cajDtain  to  remain  continually  on 
the  turret — I  had  almost  said  ''bridge" 
from  old  habit — and  then  six  eyes  see 
more  than  two.  And  to  be  able  to  see 
is  one  of  the  first  laws  of  the  sub- 
marine. 

Paul  Konig. 


[xii] 


The  Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


HOW    GERMANY    GOT    THE 

"U-DEUTSCHLAND,"  AND  HOW 

THE  "U-DEUTSCHLAND," 

GOT  ME 

How  did  Germany  come  to  build  the 
U -Deutschland  f  That  would  be  a  long 
story.  I  must  leave  it  to  others  to  re- 
late— to  men  who  are  better  qualified. 
The  most  important  facts  are  revealed 
in  the  speeches  which  were  made  upon 
the  return  of  the  Deutschland  during 
the  festivities  in  honor  of  this  history- 
making  event  at  the  Rathaus  in  Bre- 
men. These  may  be  read  in  the  de- 
scription I  give  of  our  reception  at  the 
close. 

The    idea    of    building    submarine 

[1] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

cargo-boats  for  long  distance  is  to  me 
an  idea  growing  out  of  the  resolve  of 
tlie  German  people  to  nullify  the  block- 
ade of  the  German  and  American 
coasts,  as  well  as  the  complete  cutting- 
off  of  our  legitimate  imports.  The 
old  Hanseatic  spirit  of  enterprise,  the 
technical  genius  of  German  shipbuild- 
ing, and  the  efficiency  of  one  of  our 
largest  shipyards  combined  to  give 
British  arrogance  upon  the  seas  the 
heaviest  blow  it  has  suffered  since  the 
Union  Jack  first  fluttered  over  the 
waves. 

It  is  impossible  to  forecast  to-day 
what  changes  and  revolutions  will  fol- 
low upon  the  building  and  traffic  of 
submarine  merchant  ships.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  all  the  laws  of  naval  warfare 
may  be  altered.  Through  this  the  sum 
.and  relationship  of  armed  ships  may 

[2] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

undergo  change  throughout  the  world, 
and  this  may  influence  the  destiny  of 
the  nations  even  more  than  the  present 
war.  It  would  seem  that  hiunanity 
stood  face  to  face  with  a  new  epoch  of 
its  history. 

We  Germans  may  well  be  proud  of 
the  fact  that  this  epoch  has  been 
ushered  in  by  a  German  ship.  That 
Canadian  war-submarines  crossed  the 
Atlantic  before  us  cannot  alter  this 
truth.  They  traveled  in  groups,  always 
upon  the  surface,  and  under  escort  of 
torx)edo-boats,  cruisers  and  auxiliary 
craft.  Moreover,  they  traveled  under 
far  more  favorable  conditions  than  a 
merchant  submarine,  since  they  had 
only  to  carry  their  provisions  and 
munitions  and  no  dead  weight  apart 
from  their  armament.  They  were 
above  all  able  to  defend  themselves. 

[3] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

On  the  other  hand  the  sole  means  of 
defense  of  a  submarine  freighter  con- 
sists in  diving.  And  even  this  is  not 
everywhere  possible  with  a  large  vessel 
of  over  2,000  tons. 

I  was  therefore  faced  by  a  new  and 
extraordinary  problem  when  asked  to 
navigate  the  TJ -Deutschland  to  Amer- 
ica. The  task  would  have  been  almost 
as  novel  had  I  been  a  young  patrol- 
boat  commander  instead  of  an  old 
Lloyd  captain,  and  a  navigator  of  big 
liners. 

But  I  must  first  tell  you  how  the 
TJ -Deutschland  managed  to  requisition 
me.  Things  developed  with  great  swift- 
ness and  many  surprises. 

I  happened  to  be  in  Berlin  during 
the  middle  of  September,  1915,  on  some 
business  or  other.  I  had  been  forced 
to  surrender  my  good  ship  Schleswig 

[4] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutschland 

long  before,  but  the  North  German 
Lloyd  knew  where  it  could  fmd  me. 
One  evening  I  found  a  message  at  my 
hotel.  It  was  from  Herr  Lohmann, 
of  Bremen,  who  asked  me  to  come  and 
see  him  at  the  Adlon,  in  Berlin,  as  soon 
as  possible. 

I  was  surj)rised.  I  knew,  of  course, 
that  Herr  Lohmann  was  the  head  of 
the  well-known  Bremen  house,  and  I 
had  met  him  personally  in  Sydney, 
where  his  firm  had  the  agency  of  the 
North  German  Lloyd. 

But  what  did  Herr  Lohmann  wish  to 
see  me  for  notv — noto  when  *' German 
shipping  had  been  swept  from  the 
seas" — as  you  might  read  day  after 
day  in  any  English  paper?  There 
would  be  certain  difficulties  in  starting 
a  new  German  line  of  steamers  to  Aus- 
tralia or  the  Straits  under  present  con- 

[5] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


ditions.  As  for  the  Baltic,  I  knew  that 
his  firm  had  no  connections  there. 
What  could  they  want  with  an  old  East 
Asia — ^America — and  Mediterranean 
sea-dog  like  myself? 

Those  thoughts  went  puzzling 
through  my  head  as  I  made  my  way 
to  the  Adlon. 

Herr  Lohmann  greeted  me  in  the 
most  affable  manner.  He  did  not  beat 
long  about  the  bush.  After  referring 
to  the  pleasant  days  in  Sydney,  he 
asked  me  if  I  was  not  bored  by  this 
imeventf ul  sitting  about  on  land  ?  Was 
I  not  anxious  to  be  up  and  off  on — a 
long  cruise? 

What  was  an  old  captain  of  the 
merchant  marine  to  say  to  that? — an 
old  captain  who  had  to  leave  his  sM^d 
at  the  outbreak  of  war,  and  was  drift- 
ing about  the  country  like  a  derelict — 

[6] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


while  the  English  cruisers  were  prowl- 
ing about  the  Canal  and  the  Shet- 
lands  and  taking  the  American  mails 
from  neutral  ships  at  four  miles  dis- 
tance from  New  York'? 

I  shrugged  my  shoulders  and  was 
silent. 

Then  the  secret  came  out.  Herr 
Lohmann  now  told  me  that  he  was  en- 
tertaining the  idea  of  running  a  line  of 
submarine  merchant  ships  between  Ger- 
many and  America.  He  asked  me 
whether  I  was  willing  to  navigate  the 
first  of  these  vessels?  The  first  trip 
would  be  to  Newport  News.  He  knew 
that  I  had  a  certain  amount  of  knowl- 
edge regarding  the  waters  and  somid- 
ings  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  acquired  dur- 
ing my  trips  in  the  Baltimore  service 
of  the  North  German  Lloyd.  Did  I 
think  that  I  would  be  able  to  take  a 

[7] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


freight   boat   of   this   kind   across   to 
America — in    case    the    thing    really 

came  off? 

This  was  to  the  point.  I  have  never 
been  fond  of  long  deliberations,  so  I 
promptly  said :  ' '  Yes ! ' ' 

Here  was  a  chance  for  an  old  fellow, 
over  45,  to  take  part  in  this  war  of 
''black  lists"  and  daily  mail  robberies. 

"Herr  Lohmann,"  I  said,  "if  the 
thing  really  comes  off,  I  am  your 
man!" 

And  the  thing  did  come  off! 

In  less  than  two  months  a  telegram 
called  me  to  Berlin  to  an  important 
conference.  Here  I  looked  at  sketches, 
plans  and  working  drawings  until  my 
eyes  swam.  Four  more  months  passed 
which  I  utilized  to  the  full.  I  then  went 
to  Kiel  and  saw  a  remarkable  frame- 
work of  steel  slowly  take  shape  upon 

[8] 


Voyage  of  the  Deiitschland 

the  stocks  across  the  way  at  Gaarden. 
Rotimd,  snug  and  harmless  the  thing 
lay  there.  Inside  it  were  hidden  all 
the  coimtless,  complicated  and  power- 
ful features  of  those  sketches  and 
working  drawings.  I  cannot  boast  that 
the  reality  as  executed  in  steel  and 
brass  was  any  easier  to  grasj)  than  the 
endless  network  of  lines  and  circles 
which  had  bewildered  me  when  inspect- 
ing the  blue-prints. 

Those  of  you  who  have  seen  illustra- 
tions and  photograj)hs  of  the  interior 
of  the  ''central-station"  or  the  ''tur- 
ret" of  a  submarine,  will  understand 
what  I  mean.  And  should  you  have 
entered  a  submarine  itself  and  felt 
yourself  hopelessly  confused  by  the  be- 
wildering chaos  of  wheels,  vents, 
screws,  cocks,  pipes,  conduits,  above, 
below  and  all  about — not  to  speak  of 

[9] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


the  mysterious  levers  and  weird  me- 
chanisms,  each  of  which  has  some  im- 
portant function  to  fulfil,  you  may  find 
some  consolation  in  the  thought  that 
my  own  brains  performed  a  devils' 
dance  at  the  sight. 

But  after  this  monster,  with  its  tan- 
gle of  tubes  and  pipes,  had  been  duly 
christened,  and  its  huge  gray-green 
body  had  slid  majestically  into  the 
water,  it  suddenly  became  a  ship.  It 
swam  in  its  element  as  though  born  to 
it — as  though  it  had  never  known 
another. 

For  the  first  time  I  trod  the  tiny 
deck  and  mounted  the  turret  to  the 
navigation  platform.  From  here  I 
glanced  down  and  was  surprised  to  see 
beneath  me  a  long,  slender  craft — with 
gracious  lines  and  dainty  contours. 
Only  the  sides,  where  the  green  body 

[10] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

vaulted  massively  above  the  water, 
gave  an  indication  of  the  huge  size  of 
the  hull.  I  felt  pride  and  rapture  as 
my  eye  took  in  this  picture.  The 
fabric  swayed  slightly  beneath  my  feet 
— an  impressive  combination  of  power 
and  delicacy. 

And  now  I  knew  that  what  had  at 
first  seemed  to  me  nothing  more  than 
the  product  of  some  mad  phantasy  on 
the  part  of  the  technicians  was  in 
reality  a  ship.  It  was  a  ship  in  which 
oceans  might  be  crossed,  a  real  ship,  to 
which  the  heart  of  an  old  sailor  like 
myself  might  safely  attach  itself. 

I  laid  my  hand  upon  the  edge  of  the 
TJ-DeutscMand's  turret  and  pledged 
her  my  faith. 

And  thus  I  came  to  the  U-Deiitsch- 
land  and  became  the  commander  of  the 
first  undersea  merchant  vessel. 

[11] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


II 


TRIAL    TRIP   AND    OUTWARD 
BOUND 

We  were  now  in  for  a  strange  and 
wonderful  time.  Day  after  day  we 
went  out  into  the  bights  and  down  into 
the  depths.  We  made  trial  trips  in  all 
sorts  of  weather  and  at  every  oppor- 
tunity. Every  man  of  our  picked  crew 
knew  of  the  task  we  were  expected  to 
fulfil. 

Our  job  was  to  acquire  facility  in 
steering  this  fine  and  complicated  craft, 
the  last  word  in  bold  and  subtle  com- 
putation. Our  job  was  to  learn  how  to 
imderstand  and  control  this  most  mar- 
vellous product  of  modern  shipbuild- 
ing, the  submarine.  We  were  obliged  to 
learn  how  to  impose  our  wills  upon  this 

[12] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutschJand 

heavy  mass  of  almost  2,000  tons,  so  that 
it  would  obey  the  slightest  turn  of  the 
rudder,  and  turn  and  manoeuvre  like  a 
torpedo-boat,  and  rise  and  sink  in  the 
water  like  a  dirigible  in  the  air. 

It  was  also  necessary  to  observe  the 
strength  of  the  steel  body,  to  test  the 
force  and  obedience  of  the  powerful 
engines,  to  study  the  imperfections  or 
little  perversities  of  the  whole,  to  cap- 
ture the  secret  of  the  life  and  move- 
ment of  this  weird,  mysterious,  fish- 
like organism. 

A  submarine  is  as  full  of  moods  as 
a  woman,  and  as  delicate  as  a  race 
horse.  It  is  as  solid  as  a  tramp 
steamer,  and  as  reliable  as  a  tug-boat. 
It  may  have  good  qualities — and  bad. 
It  may  be  as  manageable  as  a  racing 
yacht,  or  it  may  buck  like  a  broncho, 
and  it  will  only  obey  him  who  knows 

[13] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 


it  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  its 
minute  mechanism. 

So  we  spent  weeks  upon  the  seas — 
upon  and  beneath  them.  We  studied 
our  boat,  and  strove  to  grow  acquainted 
with  all  its  possibilities.  We  were  bent 
on  mastering  all  the  peculiarities  of 
this  nautical  amphibian. 

After  returning  from  the  quiet  bays 
and  coves,  where  we  carried  on  our 
practice,  to  the  yards,  the  smashing 
uproar  of  the  rivetting  hammers  and 
the  ceaseless  clamor  of  the  docks,  we 
would  sit  for  hours  with  the  construc- 
tors and  swap  experiences.  Many  hints 
and  valuable  suggestions  resulted  from 
this  practical  experience,  and  gave  rise 
to  new  plans  and  ideas. 

I  cannot  sufficiently  express  my 
thanks  to  these  gentlemen — the  ship- 
builders  who   worked   hand   in   hand 

[14] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


with  me.  Tliey  never  tired  in  their 
efforts  to  assist  us,  nor  in  helping  to 
test  this  wonderful  creation  of  their  in- 
ventive genius.  On  the  very  day  of 
our  departure,  Chief  Engineer  Erbach, 
the  constructor  of  the  vessel,  rowed 
out  to  our  anchorage — in  order  to 
make  one  final  diving  test. 


*         * 


The  day  of  our  departure  had  come. 
The  U -Deutschland  had  been  loaded. 
The  precious  cargo  lay  well  packed  in 
the  freight-chambers.  Then  the  whole 
ship  was  once  more  overhauled  and 
brought  to  a  perfect  trim.  We  then 
stored  enough  provisions  for  this  long 
trip;  then  came  boxes  of  cigars,  and 
gramophone  plates. 

All  our  various  needs  had  been  i)ro- 
vided  for  and  the  U-Deutschland  was 
ready  to  "sail." 

[15] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

We,  too,  were  ready.  Our  farewells 
with  our  loved  ones  had  already  taken 
place,  thank  God — at  home.  These 
moments,  especially  when  there  is  to  be 
a  trip  into  the  unknown,  are  always 
painful  ones,  which  had  best  be  got 
over  as  quickly  as  possible.  Our  last 
handclasps  were  with  the  men  of  the 
Germania  Shipyard. 

Then  the  gang-plank  was  drawn  in. 
I  ordered  the  men  to  their  stations  and 
mounted  the  turret.  The  tug-boat 
Clim-'lotte  was  already  alongside  and 
picked  up  the  hawser.  I  called  ''At- 
tention!" down  into  the  central  station 
and  lifted  my  hand. 

The  mighty  moment  had  come. 

''Cast  away  aft!" 

"Aye,  aye,  sir." 

"Pull  away,  Cliarlotte!" 

The  bell  of  the  signal  dial  upon  the 

[16] 


@  lid.  Press  Kxihangp 

Captain  Pali.  Konig 

From  a  photograph  taken  in 
Bremen  before  the  war 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

stout  little  tug-boat  tinkles.  The 
sturdy  craft  pulls  the  tow-line  tight 
and  slowly  draws  the  stern  of  the 
Deutscliland  away  from  the  wharf. 

**Cast  away  for'd!" 

*'Aye,  aye,  sir." 

The  hawsers  flop  splashing  from  the 
pier  wall  into  the  grimy,  churned-up 
water  of  the  harbor. 

And  now  it  is  our  turn.  I  pick  up 
the  speaking-tube: 

"Larboard  engine — half  power — re- 
verse!" 

*' Starboard  engine — slow  speed 
ahead." 

^^Helm  20  points  starboard!" 
"Hehn  20  starboard!" 

The  answers  from  the  engine-room 
came  up  promptly. 

From  where  I  stood  upon  the  tur- 
ret, close  beside  the  helmsman  with  his 

[17] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

small  wheel,  I  could  scarcely  feel  tlie 
throb  of  the  electric  engines  going  in- 
to action.  Only  the  dirty  water,  which 
was  cast  up  by  the  propellers  and  went 
wallowing  and  whirling  to  sternward 
over  the  round  body  of  the  Deutsch- 
land, betrayed  the  fact  that  the  engines 
were  in  operation. 

Slowly  the  great  green  whale-back 
swung  around  and  lay  at  first  at  right 
angles  to  the  course,  drove  forward  a 
little  to  larboard,  remained  still,  and 
then  pushed  itself  with  the  help  of  the 
tug  once  more  to  starboard  stern  on. 

I  ordered  both  engines  to  stop. 

The  boat  still  proceeded  backwards 
for  a  piece,  tugging  fiercely  at  the  tow- 
ing cable  like  some  cumbrous  monster 
of  the  brine. 

i  cast  a  swift  glance  from  the  turret 
upon  the  course  and  the  pier.     There 

[18] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

was  now  enougli  room  to  manoeuvre  in. 

I  ordered  the  tow-lines  to  be  cast  off 
and  both  engines  to  drive  ahead  at  half 
speed  with  helm  to  larboard. 

We  were  still  turning  and  made  a 
good  clearance  of  the  ]oier  wall  close  to 
a  large  gray  war-submarine  which  was 
just  being  completed.  I  then  ordered 
the  helm  to  be  put  amidships,  and  both 
engines : 

*'Full  steam  ahead!" 

The  bows  of  the  shij)  began  to  trem- 
ble in  rhythmic  vibrations  under  the  in- 
creased pressure  from  the  engines.  The 
water  came  foaming  from  the  propel- 
lers. We  were  imder  way  and  the 
Deutscliland  began  pushing  herself  fas- 
ter and  faster  through  the  dingy  waters 
of  the  port — out  of  the  bay,  out  toward 
the  broad  ocean — toward  the  freedom 
of  the  seas. 

[19] 


Voyage  of  the  DetitscJiland 


III 

THE  FIRST  DAY  AT  SEA 

The  North  Sea  came  rolling  toward 
us  in  long  swells.  The  weather  was 
bright  and  there  was  a  stiff  breeze 
Nor '-nor '-west.  I  stood  with  the  First 
Officer  of  the  Watch  in  the  turret — in 
the  *' bath-tub."  This  is  what  we  call- 
ed the  protecting  wall  of  metal  which 
rose  above  the  navigation  platform  as 
a  kind  of  parapet  and  encircled  the 
turret  manhole  in  elegant  sweeping 
lines.  It  somewhat  resembled  the  gon- 
dola of  an  aeroplane.  The  outer  steer- 
ing wheel  is  situated  directly  in  front 
of  this,  but  can  be  used  only  in  fair 
weather. 

We  were  standing  in  oilskins  behind 
the  shield,  for  the  sea  had  just  enough 

[20] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

movement  to  ^Yet  everything.  The  deck 
was  continually  flooded  and  every  few 
moments  the  waves  went  slapping 
against  the  turret.  In  my  hand  I  held 
the  speaking-tube  connection  with  the 
central  station,  where  the  helmsman 
passes  on  the  orders  to  the  engineer  by 
means  of  the  signal  dial.  I  stood  with 
every  sense  alert.  There  was  a  sound 
of  dull  thumping,  the  bows  plunged  in- 
to the  foam,  the  seas  came  rumbling  a- 
cross  the  deck  and  shot  hissing  up 
against  the  superstructure  of  the  tur- 
ret. The  turret  manhole  had  to  be 
flung  to  instantly  and  we  were  forced 
to  duck  behind  the  protecting  wall  in 
our  crackling  oilskins.  These  manceu- 
vers  were  repeated  every  few  minutes. 
In  the  intervals  we  rose  to  a  standing- 
position,  listened  to  the  howling  of  the 
wind,  and  gazed  at  the  horizon.     The 

[21] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


German  coast  toward  the  southeast 
had  vanished  behind  ns  some  time  be- 
fore and  the  only  bit  of  the  homeland 
still  with  us  was  the  accompanying  tor- 
pedo-boat which  was  forging  on  ahead 
of  us.  We  soon  approached  the  outer- 
most chain  of  German  f  oreposts.  Four 
patrol  vessels  passed  us  in  a  keel  line 
and  hoisted  the  signal : 

^'Gliickliche  Eeise!"  (Bon  Voyage!) 
Our  faithful  escort  then  darted  up 
closer  to  us.  Her  crew  gave  us  three 
tremendous  cheers,  her  officers  stood 
at  salute  upon  her  bridge,  and  we  two 
lonely  men  upon  the  turret  returned 
the  salute.  Then  the  black  craft  struck 
her  nose  into  a  sea,  made  a  splendid 
turning  and  drove  off  wdth  a  whirling 
wake.  She  grew  smaller  and  smaller 
and  then  vanished  with  her  fluttering 
pennons  of  smoke. 

[22] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

We  were  now  left  to  ourselves.  We 
were  travelling  into  the  unknowoi. 

However,  there  was  little  time  for 
meditation.  Danger  threatened  us  from 
all  sides.  I  had  to  make  sure  that  the 
craft  was  in  the  best  of  trim  and  that 
the  engines  and  diving  arrangements 
were  under  complete  control. 

I  gave  the  order: 

** Clear  for  a  diving  test!" 

Instantly  the  response  came  back 
from  the  turret  and  the  central  station, 
and  the  men  hurried  to  their  posts. 
The  oil  engines  were  still  hammering 
away  at  a  mad  rate.  I  left  the  alarm 
bell  clang  and  jumped  into  the  manhole 
of  the  turret.  The  cover  was  battened 
down,  the  engines  stopped  at  the  same 
moment. 

We  felt  a  slight  pressure  in  our  ears 
for  a  moment.    We  were  cut  off  from 

[23] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

outside  and  silence  reigned.  But  this 
silence  was  merely  an  illusion — and  was 
due  to  the  change. 

**Open  the  diving-valves.  Sub- 
merge ! ' ' 

The  valves  were  flung  open  and  the 
compressed  air  escaped  hissing  from 
the  tanks.  At  the  same  time  a  gigantic, 
intermittent  snorting  ensued,  like  the 
blowing  and  belching  of  some  prehis- 
toric monster.  There  was  an  uncom- 
fortable pressure  in  our  ears,  then  the 
noise  became  more  regular,  followed 
by  a  buzzing  and  a  shrill  hum.  All 
the  high  notes  of  the  engines  in  the 
central  station  intermingled  and  made  a 
bewildering  noise.  It  was  like  a  mad, 
diabolical  singsong.  And  yet  it  was 
almost  like  silence  after  the  dull,  heavy 
pounding  of  the  oil-motors — only  more 
insistent  and  irritating.     The  penetra- 

[24] 


Voyage  of  tJie  DeutscMand 

ting  hum  in  the  various  vents  announ- 
ced the  fact  that  the  diving  mechanism 
was  in  operation.  It  moaned  and  sang 
lower  and  lower  in  the  scale  of  tones. 
These  slowly  diminishing  and  steadily 
deepening  tones  give  one  the  physical 
feeling  of  mighty  volumes  of  water 
pouring  in  and  flooding  full. 

You  have  the  sensation  of  growing 
heavier  and  sinking  as  the  boat  grows 
heavier  and  sinks,  even  though  you 
may  not  be  able  to  see  through  the 
turret  window,  or  the  periscope,  how 
the  bows  are  gradually  submerged  and 
the  water  climbs  higher  and  higher  up 
the  turret  until  all  things  without  are 
wrapped  in  the  eerie  twilight  of  the 
depths. 

The  faithful  lamps  burned,  however, 
and  then  a  real  silence  suddenly  en- 
sued.    There  was   no   sound   but   the 

[25] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

gentle,  trembling  rhythm  of  the  electric 
engines. 

I  then  gave  the  order: 
** Submerge  to  twenty  meters!" 
*'Both  engines  half  steam  ahead!" 
I  was  able  to  follow  our  submersion 
by  means  of  the  manometer.  Through 
flooding  the  tanks,  the  boat  is  given 
several  tons  over-weight  and  the  en- 
closed ship's  space  is  made  heavier 
than  the  displaced  quantity  of  water. 
The  titanic  fish,  therefore,  began  to  sink 
downward  in  its  element,  that  is  to  say, 
it  began,  in  a  certain  sense,  to  fall.  At 
the  same  time  the  electric  engines  are 
put  into  motion  and  the  propulsive 
force  of  the  propellers  acts  upon  the 
diving  rudders  and  causes  the  sinking 
to  become  a  gliding.  After  the  requir- 
ed depth  has  been  reached — something 
which  may   easily   be   read   from  the 

[26] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

manometer  that  records  the  depth — all 
further  sinking  may  be  stopped  by 
simply  lightening  the  hull,  which  is 
done  by  forcing  out  some  of  the  water 
in  the  submarine 's  tanks.  The  furious 
growling  of  the  pump  is  always  a  sure 
sign  that  the  required  depth  is  being 
approached.  The  noise  ceased,  only  the 
electric  motors  continued  to  purr  and 
the  word  came  from  the  central  station : 

"Twenty  meters — even  keel!" 

** Rudder  set!" 

So  Ave  forged  ahead  at  a  depth  of 
20  meters.  Of  course  we  are  *' blind" 
under  such  conditions  and  can  regulate 
our  movements  only  by  means  of  the 
depth  recorder  and  that  precious  little 
jewel  of  the  boat,  our  compass.  No 
ray  of  light  reached  us  any  longer  from 
without,  the  periscope  was  submerged 
long  ago  and  the  steel  safety  covers 

[27] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

over  the  windows  were  closed.  We  had 
been  metamorphosed  completely  into 
a  fish. 

Reports  now  came  from  all  parts  of 
the  U-boat — the  central,  the  engine- 
room,  the  bow,  the  stern,  the  cargo- 
room,  the  battery-room — all  tight.  The 
DeutscJiland  might  safely  proceed 
through  the  deeps.  But  it  is  not  al- 
ways so  simple  a  matter  to  steer  a  boat 
of  this  size  at  a  specified  depth.  A 
change  in  the  specific  gravity  of  water 
in  consequence  of  alterations  in  the 
temperature  of  the  water  or  the  amount 
of  salt  influences  this  greatly.  As  an 
example  let  me  explain  the  difference 
between  the  water  of  the  Baltic  and 
that  of  the  North  Sea.  The  specific 
gravity  of  the  two  seas  is  in  the  rela- 
tion of  1.013  to  1.025.  This  appears 
trifling.    But  with  a  boat  of  the  size  of 

[28] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

the  JDeutscliland,  wliicli  requires  over- 
weight of  many  tons  to  enable  it  to 
dive,  this  difference  mounts  up  to  a 
quite  formidable  weight.  In  order  to 
submerge  in  the  denser  water  of  the 
North  Sea,  we  must  make  our  boat  at 
least  17  tons  heavier  than  is  necessary- 
in  the  Baltic — otherwise  we  cannot 
dive.  In  addition,  the  most  disagree- 
able surprises  are  to  be  expected  when- 
ever there  are  sudden  alterations  in  the 
temperature  of  the  water,  as  in  bays 
and  river  mouths.  These  are  further 
influenced  by  the  lighter  sweet  water. 
Many  a  U-boat  commander  has  been 
misled  by  thinking  that  a  certain  over- 
weight was  all  that  was  required  to 
take  him  under  water  and  keep  him 
posed  at  a  certain  level.  .  .  .  Suddenly, 
however,  the  manometer  indicates  a 
still  greater  depth  and  the  submarine 

[29] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

begins  to  fall  like  an  aeroplane  which 
has  struck  an  '' air-hole.'*  A  test  of  the 
specific  gravity  and  the  temperatui'e  of 
the  water  will  usually  explain  such  be- 
havior on  the  part  of  the  U-boat.  Only 
calculations  such  as  these  will  enable 
the  conimander  of  an  undersea  boat  to 
sink  into  the  depths  and  rise  to  the  sur- 
face with  a  certain  degree  of  assurance. 

We  had  now  completed  our  trial  dive 
to  my  satisfaction.  Everything  was 
safe  and  in  good  working  order — ^we 
had  excellent  control  of  our  complica- 
ted ajDparatus. 

I  then  gave  the  order  to  rise.     The 

diving  rudders  were  slanted  ^'up"  and 

soon  I  was  able  to  observe  their  action 

and  that  of  our  gallant  exhaust  pump 

by  the  manometer. 

After  I  had  made  sure  that  there 
were  no  vibrations  from  propellers  to 

[30] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschlayid 

be  heard  in  the  vicinity  and  no  steamer 
with  which  one  might  collide,  we  mas- 
tered the  so-called  "blind  moment." 
This  is  the  interval  during  which  the 
boat  has  already  risen  so  high  as  to 
permit  of  its  being  rammed,  the  while 
it  is  still  too  far  under  water  to  per- 
mit the  use  of  the  periscoj)e  above  the 
surface  to  have  a  look  around. 

This  interval  is  very  brief.  I  stood 
at  the  eye-piece  of  the  tube  and  stared 
hard.  The  field  of  vision  grew  lighter, 
silver  air-bubbles  rose  glinunering,  a 
winking  of  light  and  a  rilling  of  water 
flashed  athwart  the  glass,  then  daylight 
came — a  picture  appeared.  Clear  and 
luminous  the  North  Sea  lay  outspread 
before  me  into  the  empty  and  endless 
horizon. 

I  then  gave  orders  to  rise  to  oiu^  fidl 
extent.      The   planes   of   the   rudders 

[31] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

forced  the  boat  more  and  more  toward 
the  surface  of  the  water.  In  order  to 
accelerate  this,  compressed  air  was 
forced  into  one  of  the  tanks.  The 
movement  was  now  very  rapid,  the  tur- 
ret cleared  itself,  the  deck  lifted  itself 
dripping,  the  manhole  in  the  turret 
was  opened  and  fresh  air  came  stream- 
ing in: 

^'Blow  out  the  tanks!"  was  my  next 
order. 

There  was  a  wild  howling  and  hissing 
in  the  central  station.  The  powerful 
air-blasts  were  forcing  the  water  out 
of  the  diving  tanks.  This  takes  but  a 
short  time.  As  soon  as  one  tank  is 
empty,  the  air  which  has  been  blown 
into  it  comes  bubbling  up  with  a  gurg- 
ling noise  along  the  sides  of  the  boat 
which  soon  attains  its  normal  position. 

We  were  still  proceeding  under  elec- 

[32] 


ei- 

a,  a 


o 
o 

E- 

o 

M 


9 
O 


S 


as  ;5 


11 


o 


c 
(-1 

® 


o 

.2 
o 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

trie  power.  The  next  step  was  to 
switch  on  the  heavy  Diesel  motors  hj 
means  of  the  electric  engines.  I  had 
already  climbed  uj)  to  the  turret  and 
so  I  noticed  nothing  of  tliis  operation, 
except  the  reports  that  came  to  me  from 
the  central.  But  on  such  occasions  an 
exciting  picture  is  presented  to  the  men 
in  the  engine-room. 

The  engine  observers  stand  at  their 
posts.  The  order  comes  through  the 
speaking-tube — everybody  is  rigid  with 
attention.  Then  the  Chief  Engineer 
gives  a  shrill  whistle  and  lifts  one  hand. 
A  few  swift  movements  of  the  trained 
hand — and  certain  long  and  blinding- 
lightnings  flash  across  the  switchboard 
in  the  electric-motor  chamber.  The  first 
piston-heads  lift  themselves  hesitatingly, 
slowly,  unwillingly — then  increase  their 
speed.     Terrific  reports  and  loud  hiss- 

*  [33] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


ings  ensue,  and  a  curious,  irregular 
coughing.  The  roaring  of  the  explo- 
sions then  becomes  rhythmic  and  faster 
and  faster  the  engines  fall  into  their 
places  and  begin  to  pulsate  in  a  regular 
harmony — like  the  strokes  of  innumer- 
able hammers. 

The  trial  dive  was  at  an  end,  and 
stamping  and  pounding,  the  Deutsch- 
land hurried  on  her  way.  The  wind 
did  not  slacken,  but  the  weather  re- 
mained fair  and  observation  was  easy. 

No  steamer  hove  in  sight — so  we 
were  able  to  iDroceed  quietly  on  the  sur- 
face. Of  course  we  had  the  best  of 
reasons  for  navigating  with  the  utmost 
care  and  attention.  Thus  the  day  came 
to  an  end. 

But  when  the  sun  sank  in  dull  and 
threatening  clouds,  there  was  a  storm 
brewing  for  the  morrow. 

[34] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutschland 


IV 


THE  U-BOAT  TRAP 

And  there  was  a  storm.  The  farther 
we  left  the  coast  behind,  the  more 
violent  grew  the  sea.  Our  ship  was 
flmig  and  tossed  about  in  great  style. 
I  was  aware  of  this  as  I  lay  in  my 
berth.  About  two  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing I  was  awakened  by  a  "Hoo — ee!" 
in  the  speaking-tube  in  the  wall  close 
to  my  head. 

Second  Officer  of  the  Watch  Eyring 
reported  that  a  white  light  was  visible 
to  starboard  and  was  swiftly  approach- 
ing. I  leaped  out  of  my  berth,  went 
balancing  around  the  corner  into  the 
central,  then  up  the  ladder,  through 
the  manhole  and  on  to  the  platform. 

Eyring  pointed  out  a  white  light.    It 

[35] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

was  comparatively  close  and  appeared 
to  be  coining  on  at  a  great  rate.  We 
decided  to  take  no  risks,  sounded  the 
alarm  and  dived.  It  was  then  that  I  felt 
for  the  first  time  that  overwhelming 
sensation  of  security  which  arises  from 
the  possibility  of  such  a  rapid  mode  of 
escape. 

It  all  seemed  most  natural.  Here  we 
were  in  the  very  midst  of  a  world-war, 
going  on  our  way  with  an  unarmed 
freight-boat  in  the  dead  of  night.  A 
light  draws  near — it  may  be  an  enemy, 
most  probably  it  is  an  enemy.  In  a 
few  moments  a  couple  of  guns  may 
flash  forth,  a  couple  of  shells  smash  our 
superstructure,  the  seas  go  plunging 
into  the  inner  shell  of  our  craft  and 
then  the  North  Sea  closes  above  our 
heads. 

But  nothing  of  this  sort  happened. 

[36] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


A  brief  command  shot  down  to  the 
central  station.  A  few  quick  move- 
ments were  made  with  hand-wheels 
or  levers  and  we  proceeded  on  our 
way  in  absolute  safety.  Brute 
force  may  bar  our  path  upon  the 
surface  of  the  seas,  but  it  is  impotent 
and  must  let  us  pass  as  soon  as  we 
take  our  course  a  few  yards  under  the 
surface. 

For  reasons  of  safety  we  continued 
to  screw  our  way  forward  in  a  sub- 
merged state,  and  remained  under  water 
until  dawn.  We  rose  to  the  surface 
about  four  o'clock.  It  was  already  day, 
but  imfortunately,  there  was  a  mighty 
uncomfortable  sea  running.  We  saw 
a  few  fishing  boats  in  the  distance,  la- 
boriously toiling  away.  We  kept  a 
sharp  eye  on  them,  but  soon  became 
convinced  of  their  harmless  character 

[37] 

316514 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

and    so    continued    our    course    above 
water. 

Tliis  was  rough  work.  The  move- 
ments of  the  submarine  were  such  that 
the  heads  and  stomachs  of  the  men  in 
the  interior  of  the  boat — which  could 
only  be  ventilated  by  the  fans — ^began 
to  be  affected.  A  part  of  the  crew 
found  no  charm  in  the  temptations  of 
dinner.  It  was  also  impossible  to  re- 
main on  deck,  since  this  was  constant- 
ly being  flooded.  It  was  a  trifle  dryer 
behind  the  protecting  wall  of  the 
** bath-tub"  and  in  the  lee  of  the  turret, 
protected  from  the  sea  and  the  wind. 
Here  a  few  members  of  the  free  watch 
remained  huddled.  They  clutched  the 
rails,  sniffed  up  the  fresh  air,  and  shook 
themselves  whenever  a  breaker  came 
bursting  against  the  turret  in  an  erup- 
tion of  foam  and  spray. 

[38] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

We  proceeded  thus  during  the  entire 
day.  We  saw  a  few  steamers  in  the 
distance — as  betrayed  by  their  smoke; 
but  these  we  avoided  by  a  change  of 
course  above  water  after  carefully  get- 
ting their  bearings  and  observing  what 
course  they  were  following. 

This  is  not  so  difficult  as  would  ap- 
pear. You  know  your  own  bearings 
and  can  obtain  those  of  the  other  ves- 
sel by  triangulation  and  computing  its 
position  and  course  by  means  of  the 
chart.  After  comparing  these  details 
with  the  lines  of  the  chief  steamer 
routes  as  marked  in  the  charts,  vou 
are  able  to  tell  with  a  fair  degree  of 
certainty  in  what  direction  the  steamer 
must  be  travelling. 

A  computation  of  this  sort,  as  luck 
would  have  it,  happened  to  prove  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  us  shortly  after, 

[39] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

and — as  you  shall  see — it  was  even  in 
the  nature  of  a  certain  amount  of  docu- 
mentary evidence. 

Toward  evening  the  weather  had 
cleared  a  little,  and  even  the  sea  had 
grown  quieter.  The  sun  went  down 
amidst  beautifully  illuminated  clouds. 

The  entire  watch  had  come  up  to  get 
a  breath  of  fresh  air  and  to  light  up 
a  cigar  or  cigarette.  Smoking  below 
decks  is  strictlv  forbidden.  The  men 
all  crowded  closely  together,  over 
and  under  each  other,  against  the 
jprotected  side  of  the  turret,  hugging 
the  steel  wall.  They  made  a  remark- 
able picture  in  their  rough  and  heavy 
sea  clothes  and  looked  like  a  swarm  of 
bees — a  grape-like  cluster  of  tangled 
human  forms.  Not  much  etiquette  was 
observed  to  be  sure.  I  let  the  men  do 
as  they  pleased.    Their  job  was  a  hard 

[40] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

one  down  below.  When  one  of  tliem 
wished  to  stick  his  head  out  of  the  man- 
hole in  order  to  have  a  few  whiffs  of 
his  pipe,  I  gladly  granted  him  the  brief 
enjoyment. 

All  eyes  were  now  engaged  in  search- 
ing the  horizon.  This  was  a  good  thing, 
for  the  more  eyes  there  are  i:)eeled  the 
more  the  ship  sees.  Some  of  the  men 
had  eyes  like  hawks. 

We  saw  two  masts  come  bobbing  w^ 
to  port  in  the  translucent  twilight  of 
this  June  evening.  A  smoke-stack  fol- 
lowed and  soon  the  hull  of  a  steamer 
loomed  above  the  horizon.  With  the 
aid  of  our  x^owerful  prism-glasses  we 
were  able  to  keep  her  imder  close  ob- 
servation. We  decided  to  fix  her 
course,  so  as  to  be  able  to  avoid  her,  yet 
remain  on  the  surface.  We  soon  man- 
aged to  secure  a  few  good  observations 

[41] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

and  I  proceeded  to  consult  the  chart.  I 
studied  this,  made  comparisons,  took 
another  observation,  made  certain  cal- 
culations and  once  again  referred  to 
the  chart.  I  was  stunned.  The  course 
this  steamer  was  taking  would  never 
lead  her  into  any  port ! 

How  could  this  be  possible? 

She  was  steering  directly  for  the 
coast — Sheading  for  the  rocks ! 

I  summoned  Krapohl  and  showed 
him  my  figures.  We  once  more  took  the 
steamer  imder  observation  with  our 
glasses  and  compared  the  chart — 
everything  tallied.  The  fellow  was 
bound  straight  for  nothingness! 

In  the  meantime  we  had  approached 
close  enough  to  enable  us  to  distinguish 
her  clearly.  The  June  evening  was 
still  so  clear  and  bright  that  we  could 
remark    everything    with    great    ease. 

[42] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscMancl 

She  was  a  fine  steamer,  of  middling 
size,  carried  a  large  neutral  flag  and 
was  conspicuously  painted  with  the 
same  colors  along  her  sides.  In  the 
middle  of  her  length  she  bore  a  long, 
double  name,  which  we  could  not  yet 
make  out. 

Suddenly  Kropohl  sang  out: 
'^Donnerivetter!  how  does  it  happen 
that  this  fellow  is  still  flying  his  colors 
so  long  after  simdown?  Can  that  be 
mere  accident?  And  there's  something 
suspicious  about  the  way  that  paint  is 
laid  on!  The  rascal  looks  queer  to 
me!" 

I  was  forced  to  agree.  I  was  par- 
ticularly suspicious  about  the  senseless 
course  the  ship  was  taking.  One 
doesn't  go  promenading  for  pleasure 
around  the  reaches  of  the  North  Sea 
in  the  midst  of  a  World  War! 

[43] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


We  consulted  as  to  what  action  to 
take.  The  steamer  apparently  had  not 
yet  seen  us.  She  pursued  her  myste- 
rious course  and  was  already  a  trifle 
off  our  stern. 

I  therefore  decided  not  to  dive,  since 
our  two  courses  would  soon  take  us  far 
apart. 

Suddenly  the  steamer  made  a  sharp 
turn  and  came  directly  toward  us.  We 
were  now  able  to  see  that  this  good 
neutral  had  also  swung  out  his  boats, 
naturally  in  order  to  establish  still  fur- 
ther his  character  as  a  harmless  mer- 
chantman who  was  ready  for  all  con- 
tingencies and  quite  willing  to  obey 
all  the  orders  of  a  fighting  submarine. 

We  were  sufficiently  satisfied  with 
this  most  ingratiating  endeavor  to 
please.  I  sent  all  men  below  decks  and 
at  once  sounded  the  alarm.     We  pre- 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

pared  to  dive  and  made  a  turn  toward 
the  steamer,  so  as  to  lie  cross  to  the 
seas,  as  this  facilitates  getting  mider 
water. 

And  now  to  our  great  astonishment, 
we  observed  the  following:  The  neu- 
tral steamer  had  hardly  seen  us  make 
one  turn  and  jDrepare  to  dive,  than  she 
made  a  quick  move  and  altered  her 
course.  And  as  we  sank  beneath  the 
surface  we  saw  her  vomiting  clouds  of 
smoke  and  making  for  the  distance  in 
a  zigzag  course! 

This  confession  of  an  imeasy  con- 
science was  overwhelming  evidence  for 
us.  We  roared  with  laughter  over  the 
flight  of  this  jolly  ''neutral"  with  the 
mysterious  course.  The  crafty  fellow 
knew  that  the  game  was  ujd.  He  natur- 
ally took  us  for  a  war  submarine  and 
was  fearful  of  getting  a  torpedo  be- 

[45] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

tween  Ms  ribs  during  the  next  few 
moments. 

He  must  have  been  boiling  with  rage. 
It  would  have  been  so  pleasant  to  come 
up  close  to  the  ''pest"  under  the  guise 
of  a  ''neutral"  and  then  at  a  safe 
distance  to  drop  his  joorthole  covers 
and  his  harmless  colors  and  to  let  fly 
at  us  with  shells.  The  U-boat  trap  had 
been  prettily  prepared — the  German 
"pirate"  need  only  have  come  a  trifle 
closer ! 

Instead  of  accoimnodating  our  friend 
the  enemy,  we  made  our  bow  under 
water  and  emerged  after  some  two 
hours  had  elapsed.  I  first  searched  the 
horizon  through  the  periscope  and 
then,  still  half  submerged,  I  opened 
the  turret  manhole  in  order  to  sweep 
the  seas  with  the  glass.  All  was  safe. 
The  moon  had  risen  in  the  south,  and 

[46] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

made  the  bright  summer  night  still 
more  radiant.  As  far  as  my  vision 
reached,  the  sea  was  clear,  not  a  steam- 
er in  sight. 

The  Deutschland  might  now  go 
her  ways  -unhindered.  Apart  from 
the  joy  felt  over  the  disillusionizing 
of  the  cunning  manipulator  of  the  U- 
boat  trap,  I  now  had  the  certitude  that 
we  would  be  able  to  see  all  vessels  be- 
fore they  saw  us. 

That,  as  you  will  agree,  is,  under  the 
circumstances,  a  great  deal. 


[47] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


V 

HEAD  DOWNWARDS  IN  THE 
NORTH  SEA 

I  HAD  decided  to  proceed  submerged 
under  electric  power  during  the  dark- 
est hours  of  the  following  night — that 
is,  between  eleven  and  one  o'clock. 
When  we  made  our  dive  during  the 
dusk  of  the  long  summer  day,  there 
was  still  little  wind.  But  a  high  swell 
was  flowing — a  sure  sign  that  in  a  few 
hours  the  storm  would  come  lashing 
along.  About  two  o'clock  a.m.  I  gave 
orders  to  rise  and  was  soon  aware,  by 
the  increasingly  wild  movements  of  the 
boat,  that  the  storm  had  come  and  that 
a  still  heavier  sea  was  accompanying  it. 

Our  craft  made  regular  leajDS  and 
capers.     Nevertheless  we  calmly  blew 

[48] 


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S  «t^ 

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gh-, 

o  C 

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fe    t. 

^      K 

1^    < 

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r  f^ 

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K 

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►■- 

h—' 

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Ki 

<1 

® 

Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

out  our  tanks  and  came  up  in  fine 
fashion.  As  soon  as  the  periscope  pro- 
jected, I  tried  to  obtain  a  view  of 
things  above.  But  it  was  impossible  to 
see  a  thing,  as  the  periscope  cut  into 
thick  hills  of  water  every  few  moments. 
In  addition  to  this  the  cold,  gray  dawn 
light  made  the  waves  that  came  wallow- 
ing along  appear  still  larger  and  more 
sinister  than  usual.  So  we  emerged 
completely  above  the  surface.  I  climbed 
upon  the  turret,  in  order  to  have  a 
proper  look  over  the  madly  waltzing 
seas. 

A  pretty  bit  o'  weather!  All  around 
us  in  the  livid  glow  of  the  dawn  a 
veritable  witch's  kettle  of  impossibly 
monstrous  mountains  of  water  crowned 
with  foam,  which  the  wind  blew  off  in 
the  shape  of  briny  dust  and  drove 
hissing  through  the  air.     The  boat  la- 

[49] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


bored  heavily  head  on,  and  now  and 
again  fell  violently  away.  The  entire 
deck  was,  of  course,  flooded.  Every  few 
seconds  a  sea  came  lurching  against 
the  turret  and  burst  over  me  in  dense 
showers  of  spray.  I  clung  to  the 
parapet  of  the  ^'bath-tub"  and 
searched  the  horizon —  a  most  remark- 
able horizon  of  heavy  hills  of  water 
which  went  sliding  in  and  out  like  the 
wing-pieces  in  a  stage-setting. 

I  was  just  about  to  order  the  Diesel 
engines  to  be  switched  on — when  I  gave 
a  start.  What  was  that — that  dark  line 
there  ?    Was  it  a  trail  of  smoke  ? 

But  it  was  already  blocked  out  by  a 
billow  which  shoved  itself  between  the 
ashen  heavens  and  the  heaving  sea.  .  .  . 

I  watched  and  waited,  and  stared 
through  my  glass  until  my  eyes  began 
to  ache.  .  .  . 

[50] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

There  it  was  again!  No  doubt  of  it 
— it  was  a  glimmer  of  smoke;  and 
there! — thin  as  a  needle — a  masthead! 
I  had  got  it  centered  in  my  glass.  And 
then !  as  I  bored  my  eyes  into  the  glass 
— something  came  heaving  wp  out  of 
the  valleys  of  the  sea — a  dark,  drab 
thing — with  smoke  hanging  above  it — 
and  four  squat  smoke-stacks  .  .  . 

* ' Donnerwetter — a  destroyer ! ' ' 

I  made  one  jump  into  the  turret  and 
slammed  the  cover  fast. 

^' Alarm!  Dive  quickly!   Flood!" 

*'Set  diving  rudder!" 

** Twenty  meters  depth!" 

The  commands  were  uttered  in  al- 
most one  breath.  But  the  execution  of 
them ! 

To  attempt  to  dive  with  such  a  sea 
running  was  sheer  madness,  as  experi- 
ence has  taught  us.  What  was  I  to  do  ? 

[51] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

The  destroyer  might  have  seen  us 
already ! 

Well,  we  knew  we  must  get  under — 
and  as  quickly  as  possible. 

The  men  in  the  central  below  me 
were  working  away  in  silent  haste. 
All  the  exhausts  were  opened  wide,  the 
compressed  air  hissed  from  the  tanks 
— the  diving  vents  were  chanting  in  all 
possible  keys. 

I  stood  with  my  lips  pressed  together 
and  stared  out  of  the  turret  window 
upon  the  tossing  sea,  and  watched  for 
the  first  sign  of  our  going  down.  But 
our  deck  remained  still  visible  and  we 
were  continually  lifted  into  the  air  by 
some  wave.  There  was  not  a  moment 
to  be  lost. 

I  ordered  the  diving  rudder  to  be 
set  still  more  sharply  and  both  engines 
to  drive  ahead  with  full  power. 

[52] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


The  whole  vessel  quivered  and 
thrilled  under  the  increased  pressure 
of  the  engines  and  made  several  leaps. 
She  staggered  about  in  the  furious 
seas — but  still  seemed  loath  to  leave  the 
surface.  Then  she  gave  a  jerk  and  her 
bows  suddenly  dipped  and  cut  into  the 
flood.  She  began  to  sink  into  the 
depths  at  an  ever-increasing  angle. 
The  coming  daylight  vanished  from  the 
windows  of  the  turret,  the  manometer 
in  rapid  succession  showed  2 — 3 — 6 — 
10  meters  depth.  But  the  angle  of  the 
boat  also  began  to  increase. 

We  staggered  about,  leaned  back, 
slipped  off  our  feet.  We  then  lost  our 
footing  entirely — for  the  floor  of  the 
Beutscliland  slanted  sharply  toward 
the  front.  I  was  just  able  to  catch 
hold  of  the  ocular  or  eye-piece  of  the 
periscope.     Down  in  the   central  the 

[53] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

men  were  hanging  on  to  the  hand- 
wheels  of  the  diving  rudder.  A  few 
terrible  seconds  passed  thus. 

We  had  not  yet  seized  the  full  sig- 
nificance of  this  new  situation  when 
there  came  a  severe  shock.  We  were 
hurled  to  the  floor  and  everything  that 
was  not  fastened  down  went  flying  in 
all  directions. 

We  foimd  ourselves  in  the  queerest 
attitudes — and  stared  into  one  an- 
other's faces.  There  was  a  grim 
silence  for  a  moment,  then  First  Of&cer 
Krapohl  remarked  dryly: 

^*Well,  we  seem  to  have  arrived!" 

This  broke  the  ghastly  tension. 

We  were  all  rather  pale  around  the 
gills,  but  at  once  tried  to  get  our  bear- 
ings. 

What  had  happened? 

What  had  caused  this  unnatural  in- 

[54] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

clination  of  the  boat?  And  why  were 
the  engines  above  us  raving  at  inter- 
vals in  a  way  that  made  the  whole  boat 
roar  from  stem  to  stern? 

Before  any  of  us  had  arrived  at  any 
solution  of  the  mystery,  our  Chief  Engi- 
neer, little  Klees,  had  jumped  up  from 
his  crouching  position  and,  swift  as 
lightning,  had  swept  the  engine-signal 
dial  around  to  ^*Stop!'' 

And  suddenly  there  was  a  deep 
silence. 

We  slowly  assembled  our  proper 
legs  and  arms  and  thought  hard  over 
what  had  happened. 

The  vessel  had  slanted  down  toward 
the  bows  at  an  angle  of  about  36  de- 
grees. She  was  standing,  so  to  speak, 
on  her  head.  Our  bow  was  fast  upon 
the  bottom  of  the  sea — our  stern  was 
still  oscillating   u^d   and   do^^^l   like   a 

[55] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

mighty  pendulum.  The  manometer 
showed  a  depth  of  about  15  meters. 

I  soon  had  a  clear  picture  of  our 
situation — it  was  far  from  cheering. 

According  to  the  chart  we  should 
have  some  31  meters  depth  at  this  spot. 
But  the  steep  slant  of  the  long  vessel 
must  have  caused  the  stern  to  go  rak- 
ing above  the  surface  for  a  consider- 
able distance.  This  would  furnish  a 
splendid  target  for  an  enemy  destroyer. 
As  long  as  the  engines  still  ran,  the 
following  must  also  have  occurred: 
Every  time  the  hollow  of  a  wave  raced 
over  us,  the  propellers  raced  in  empty 
air  part  of  the  time,  and  no  doubt  in- 
creased our  powers  of  attraction  by 
flinging  up  fountains  of  water  and 
whirls  of  foam.  Klees  had  at  once 
recognized  this  by  the  racing  of  the 
motors,  and  his  presence  of  mind  had 

[56] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

at  least  obviated  the  more  immediate 
peril. 

Nevertheless  we  had  betrayed  our 
resting-place  by  a  self-made  little 
storm.  And  so  we  expected  to  hear 
the  crash  of  a  shell  at  any  moment — 
smashing  into  the  high-uprearing  and 
outstanding  stern  overhead. 

More  seconds  passed — under  a  ter- 
rific strain. 

But  nothing  happened.  The  screws 
were  no  longer  able  to  betray  us.  It 
was  not  yet  full  daylight  overhead,  and 
it  was  possible  that  the  furious  sea  gave 
the  destroyer  enough  to  bother  about. 

Of  course  we  at  once  hastened  to 
get  out  of  this  idiotic  fix.  The  boat 
had  remained  quite  watertight,  and  had 
sustained  the  heavy  shock  without  the 
slightest  damage.  So  everything  pro- 
ceeded   according    to    program.      The 

[57] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

after-tanks  wliich  had  not  yet  been  en- 
tirely exhausted  of  air  were  swiftly 
flooded,  and  so  bit  by  bit  the  boat  be- 
gan to  assume  a  more  reasonable 
attitude. 

Still  she  by  no  means  lay  horizontal 
as  yet — for  she  had  struck  her  nose 
too  deeply  into  the  mud  for  that. 
i^Tevertheless  we  were  now  completely 
under  water  and  could  proceed  quietly 
with  our  work.  The  forward  tanks 
were  emptied  of  a  part  of  their  con- 
tents. Thus  by  balancing  and  trim- 
ming with  the  tanks  we  finally  man- 
aged to  get  the  bows  clear  of  the  bot- 
tom. We  now  began  to  rise,  but  were 
at  once  obliged  to  offset  the  inclination 
to  oscillate  caused  by  the  full  af t-tanks. 
After  a  time  the  center  of  gravity  was 
again  restored  and  I  once  more  had 
the  Deutschland  well  in  hand. 

[58] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

We  BOW  also  had  time  to  consider 
what  had  caused  this  sudden  bucking 
on  the  part  of  our  usually  so  well-be- 
haved boat?  This  must  have  been 
due  to  a  whole  chain  of  circumstances. 
Quite  apart  from  the  difficulty  of  sub- 
merging a  large  submarine  in  a  high- 
running  sea,  it  was  possible  that  the 
tanks,  owing  to  the  haste  induced  by 
the  presence  of  the  destroyer,  had  not 
been  quite  freed  of  air.  Added  to  this 
must  be  the  sudden  dynamic  force  ex- 
erted by  the  diving  rudder,  which  in 
combination  with  the  full  force  of  the 
engines  and  the  crushing  weight  of  a 
particularly  heavy  sea,  had  given  the 
boat  this  dangerous  slant. 

We  were  in  a  position  similar  to  that 
of  a  dirigible  balloon  which  steers  for 
the  earth  at  too  steep  an  angle  just  be- 
fore landing,  and  which  is  furthermore 

[59] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscMand 

crushed  to  the  ground  with  double 
force  owing  to  a  sudden  downward 
blast  of  air.  Of  course,  the  wonderful 
material  of  our  steel  outer  hull  with- 
stood the  shock  without  damage.  It  is, 
however,  possible  that  the  bottom  of 
the  North  Sea  sustained  some  slight 
damage  in  latitude  x  degrees  north, 
and  in  longitude  x  degrees  east. 

One  thing  appears  remarkable  to  me, 
as  I  now  strive  to  recollect  what  my 
impressions  were  as  we  rushed  at  full 
speed  downward  into  the  depths  at  an 
angle  of  36  degrees — my  first  thoughts 
were  entirely  for  the  cargo.  Was  it  well 
stored ?  Might  it  not  be  pitched  about? 
This  thought  was  wholly  instinctive,  odd 
as  this  may  seem,  for  the  Old  Adam 
which  has  once  got  hold  of  the  captain  of 
a  big  fat  liner  is  not  easily  shaken  off, 
even  when  he  steps  aboard  a  submarine. 

[60] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJdand 


VI 


"WESTWARD  HO!" 

We  had  had  enough  of  the  North 
Sea.  And  now  we  were  about  to  strike 
for  the  outer  reaches — for  the  *'open 
sea!" 

As  to  our  course,  everything,  thank 
Heaven,  was  certain!  Less  certain,  to 
be  sure,  were  the  things  that  might 
happen  to  us  upon  that  course.  We 
were  bound  to  encounter  various  little 
surprises. 

But  what  is  the  use  of  voyaging  in 
a  submarine  if  you  are  not  ready  to 
evade  surprises — and  to  evade  them 
with  a  good  chance  of  success?  We 
thought  of  the  numbers  of  war  subma- 
rines   which    had    been    successful    in 

[61] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

reaching  the  outer  seas.  And  these 
fighting  brethren  of  ours  had  a  certain 
number  of  difficult  duties  to  fulfil  en 
route — ^whereas  we  had  merely  to  avoid 
being  seen,  and  to  slip  through  with  a 
whole  hide. 

The  first  duty  imposed  upon  us  was, 
of  course,  not  so  much  to  avoid  being 
seen,  as  to  avoid  being  recognized  as 
a  merchant  U-boat. 

The  peculiar  nature  of  our  gallant 
little  Deutschland  as  an  unarmed, 
peaceful  merchant  vessel  would  not 
have  protected  us  a  moment  from  be- 
ing sunk  instantly  without  warning. 
Of  this  we  were  absolutely  convinced, 
and  we  were  afterwards  confirmed  in 
this  belief  by  the  official  declarations 
of  the  English  and  French  govern- 
ments. 

Had  they,  however,  recognized  us  as 

[62] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutscliland 

a  mercliant  submarine — then  we  should 
not  only  have  been  in  immediate  peril, 
but  our  entry  into  our  American  i^ort 
of  destination  would  have  been  endan- 
gered in  the  highest  degree — for  we 
should  at  once  have  had  a  pack  of  blood- 
thirsty sleuths  lowering  for  our  trail. 
Even  if  things  went  favorably,  we 
should  have  been  done  out  of  the  effect 
of  our  astonishing  arrival  in  America. 
As  you  may  well  imagine,  it  was  espe- 
cially upon  this  i)oint  that  we  had  set 
our  pride  and  honor. 

Such,  in  the  main,  were  my  delibera- 
tions, as  we  approached  the  regions  of 
the  *' danger  zone." 

We  ''snaked"  ourselves  along  with 
the  greatest  possible  vigilance.  We 
saw  many  things;  we  ourselves  were 
seen  but  seldom,  and  recognized  never. 
In   the   daytime   we    avoided   various 

[63] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

steamers  by  simply  altering  our  course. 
During  the  night-time  we  drove  along 
with  all  lights  blinded,  and  dived 
whenever  we  thought  it  necessary. 

The  weather  was  also  favorable. 
Once  we  sighted  a  British  auxiliary 
cruiser  at  a  considerable  distance.  She 
was  bound  in  a  definite  direction,  and 
was  following  a  zigzag  course.  For  a 
time  we  maintained  a  parallel  course, 
keeping  her  under  close  observation. 
But  the  high  seas  that  were  running 
seemed  to  absorb  her  entire  attention, 
and  so  we  ourselves  remained  unob- 
served. 

On  another  occasion,  toward  dusk,  a 
patrol  boat  approached  us.  It  had 
seen  us  and  adopted  the  mask  of  harm- 
lessness  in  order  to  tempt  us  to  an  at- 
tack. But  we  continued  quietly  on  our 
way  and  the  patrol  boat  gave  up  in 

[64] 


(c)  Int.  Pips?  KxrhaiiKP 

Preparing  to  Dock  at  Baltimore 

Au  exceptional  view  from  tlie  stern,  showing  unique  construction 


Voyacje  of  the  Deutschland 

disgust.  There  were  also  swifter  patrol 
craft  which  we  were  able  to  steer  clear 
of  in  good  time. 

Later  the  wind  subsided,  and  it  be- 
gan to  grow  misty.  We  dived  and  lay 
upon  the  bottom.  There  was  no  need 
of  hurry,  and  why  should  we  not  grant 
ourselves  a  little  rest? 

The  waters  we  chose  were,  to  be  sure, 
far  from  shallow — on  the  contrary, 
they  were  quite  deep.  But  we  reposed 
all  the  more  safely  and  quietly  for 
that.  And  we  had  a  profound  faith  in 
the  splendid  soundin.g  apparatus,  and 
the  wonderful  compression  hull  of  our 
good  Deutschland. 

This  night,  spent  upon  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  meant  real  recui3eration  for 
all  of  us.  We  were  all  able  to  have 
a  proper  wash  and  to  lie  down  to  rest 
without  having  to  fear  that  a  sudden 

[65] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutscliland 

^'Hoo-ee!"  in  the  speaking-tube  would 
startle  us  out  of  our  dreams.  First, 
however,  we  had  dinner — a  real  and 
regular  dinner.  The  two  gramophones 
were  set  going  and  we  clinked  our 
glasses,  filled — ^thanks  to  somebody's 
thoughtful  courtesy  —  with  French 
champagne. 

Our  steward,  Stucke — ^the  dear  soul! 
— served  us  with  a  solemn  ceremoni- 
ousness,  just  as  though  he  were  still 
the  dining-room  steward  aboard  the 
Kronprinzessin  Cecilie,  and  had  not 
spent  ahnost  a  year  in  French  captiv- 
ity !  And  now  he  was  showing  his  arts 
aboard  the  Deutschland  at  a  depth  of 
many  meters !  He  was  inexhaustible  in 
constantly  devising  new  resources  for 
our  cheerful  little  mess,  and  it  was 
amazing  to  see  what  undreamed-of 
quantities  of  silver  and  linen  he  was 

[66] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

able   to   stow   away   in   his   miniature 
pantry  and  a  coujDle  of  drawers. 

The  following  morning  we  once  more 
rose  to  the  surface.  The  exhaust  pumps 
snored  and  hummed,  and  we  began  to 
climb  out  of  the  dej)ths  with  hundreds 
of  gallons  "above  normal,"  and  with 
the  diving  rudders  set  as  they 
should  go. 

At  a  depth  of  twenty  meters,  the 
boat  began  to  lose  her  fine  stability. 
She  rocked  and  tossed.  The  mano- 
meter was  the  first  to  record  this,  then 
the  diving  rudders  began  to  announce 
the  fact  by  setting  up  a  stout  resist- 
ance. They  have  a  habit  under  such 
circumstances  of  bucking  heavily. 

The  higher  we  rose,  the  more  lively 
our  movements  grew.  A  very  respec- 
table sea  was  bowling  along  overhead. 

I  ordered  us  to  proceed  for  a  time 

[67] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

with  the  periscope  protruding  just 
above  the  surface  and  surveyed  the 
field.  Nothing  could  be  seen  but  a 
waste  of  white-crested  waves  racing 
along.  But  this  sort  of  weather  was 
quite  to  my  liking,  for  it  enabled  us 
to  slide  along  without  keeping  up  such 
a  vigilant  watch. 

So  I  decided  to  emerge  completely 
and  ordered  compressed  air  to  be  shot 
into  the  tanks  until  the  turret  was  suf- 
ficiently free.  Then  the  Diesel  motors 
were  switched  on,  and  the  ventilating 
mechanism  began  to  supply  fresh  air. 
But  we  had  no  sooner  opened  the  cover 
of  the  manhole  than  the  first  damp 
greetings  came  whizzing  into  the  cen- 
tral. So  we  clamped  her  down  again. 
Another  tank  was  blown  clear — the 
*' turbo"  blast  made  short  work  of  the 
imprisoned  water. 

[68] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

A  certain  trick  of  seamanship  was, 
however,  necessary,  before  we  could 
undertake  this  step.  In  order  to  rise 
entirely  it  is  necessary  to  lie  in  the 
trough  of  the  waves,  since  a  high  sea 
makes  it  impossible  for  the  long  and 
heavy  hull  to  emerge  head  on. 

So  under  a  low  speed,  we  laid  the 
Deutscliland  cross  to  the  seas.  She 
rolled  heavily — a  beastly  situation! 
which  almost  shook  the  soul  out  of 
one's  body.  Every  few  moments  the 
ponderous  cross  seas  went  rolling  over 
the  vessel.  But  she  obeyed  the  diving 
rudders  and  slowly  stuck  her  nose  out 
of  the  water.  After  we  had  reached 
the  surface  the  turret,  with  its  peri- 
scopes, described  terrifying  arcs,  swing- 
ing back  and  forth. 

There  was  another  highly  unpleas- 
ant moment  to  get  over — to  bring  the 

[69] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


Deutschland  around  upon  her  course 
once  more. 

I  stood  beMnd  the  thick  turret  win- 
dows down  which  the  driving  spray 
went  steadily  streaming,  and  braced 
myself  with  arms  and  legs  against  both 
sides  in  order  to  withstand  the  fear- 
ful tossing.  Following  old  seaman's 
lore  I  watched  for  the  period  of  irregu- 
lar comparative  calm,  which  usually 
follows  upon  three  particularly  tall 
waves. 

The  third  billow  had  just  lumbered 
by.  I  shouted  an  order  to  the  helms- 
man in  the  central  —  the  manoeuvre 
succeeded.  The  bow  slowly  nosed  itself 
around — and  we  resumed  our  old 
course  without  being  specially  hard 
pounded  by  the  big  rollers. 

But  there  was  still  much  work  to  do. 
The  storm  was  still  on  the  increase, 

[70] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

and  we  were  able  to  proceed  only 
slowly  against  this  heavy  sea.  In  addi- 
tion, some  of  the  crew  were  suffering 
from  seasickness,  for  the  short  jerky 
motions  of  the  ship  were  dreadful. 

But  the  farther  we  proceeded  the 
more  the  long  steady  swell  of  the 
Atlantic  became  recognizable.  The 
short  plunging  and  thumping  ceased 
and  passed  over  into  a  slow  majestic 
cradling  swing.  In  the  distance  we 
observed  two  English  cruisers  return- 
ing homeward  from  some  nightly 
cruise.  We  were  lying  too  deep,  how- 
ever, for  them  to  observe  us,  and  we 
saw  them  disappearing  rapidly  in  an 
opposite  course. 

We  were  now  free  of  the  Eng- 
lish patrol  boats.  We  steered  joy- 
ously toward  the  west,  out  upon  the  vast 
and  rolling  Atlantic — toward  freedom. 

[71] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


yii 

IN  THE  ATLANTIC 

We  were  now  safely  upon  the  high 
seas.  But  the  Atlantic  was  far  from 
giving  us  a  friendly  welcome.  We  had 
become  inured  to  many  things  during 
the  last  few  days,  but  I  was  anxious  to 
spare  the  nerves  of  my  men.  It  was 
necessary  to  husband  their  strength  as 
far  as  possible  in  view  of  the  long 
voyage  before  us.  So  I  decided  to 
adopt  a  more  southerly  course,  think- 
ing to  find  better  weather  there.  Un- 
fortunately we  were  deceived  in  this. 

As  I  now  look  over  my  log-book 
written  during  those  first  few  days  in 
the  Atlantic,  I  constantly  come  across 
notes  such  as:  "A  heavy  sea."    '* Stiff 

[72  J 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

wind  from  tlie  Avest-nor'-west — velocity 
8."  *'The  wind  develops  to  a  storm." 
**  Heavy  seas  sweep  over  the  entire  boat 
and  even  tlie  turret."  *'Tlie  boat  is 
traveling  under  water  almost  the  en- 
tire tune."  The  few  disconnected 
phrases  may  give  you  some  idea  of  the 
serious  and  extraordinarily  wearing 
life  of  twenty-nine  human  beings  in  a 
closed-in  steel  fish  w^hich  cuts  its  way 
without  pause  through  a  wild  and 
tumultuous  sea. 

Here,  during  these  storms  upon  the 
Atlantic,  the  splendid  seaw^orthiness 
and  marvellous  constructive  genius  em- 
bodied in  the  Deutschland  were  put  to 
the  most  extreme  tests.  The  elements 
certainly  did  their  utmost  to  defeat  our 
attempt  to  reach  America.  The  most 
terrific  strain  was  put  upon  both  the 
hull  of  our  boat  and  the  engines,  which 

[73] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

were  forced  to  keep  running  at  a  regu- 
lar speed  day  after  day  if  we  were  to 
have  any  chance  of  reaching  our 
goal. 

I  consider  it  an  honorable  obligation 
at  this  point  to  express  my  grateful 
thanks  to  the  builders  whose  work  had 
furnished  us  such  a  magnificent  instru- 
ment for  the  successful  completion  of 
our  voyage.  It  is  easy  to  grow  enthu- 
siastic over  a  splendid  ship  which  lies 
snug  in  some  port  and  captivates 
everybody  with  its  beautiful  lines,  or 
arouses  the  admiration  both  of  sailors 
and  landsmen  as  it  goes  rushing  along 
at  its  highest  speed,  but  the  real  worth 
of  a  ship,  its  inner  worth,  so  to  speak, 
can  only  be  ascertained  after  it  has  stood 
its  test  upon  the  high  seas.  You  realize 
its  good  qualities  and  have  confidence  in 
its  reliability  and  seaworthiness  only 

[74] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

after  it  has  made  headway  against  a 
wind  pressure  of  10,  and  a  sea  of  8 
degrees  of  velocity!  And  this  not 
merely  for  a  few  hours,  but  for  days 
and  weeks!  A  ship  has  a  good  chance 
of  proving  her  worth  under  such  con- 
ditions. 

This  applies  particularly  to  a  U-boat 
in  times  of  war.  A  tramp  steamer  in 
times  of  peace,  a  craft  which  is  often 
able  to  fulfil  all  kinds  of  demands  made 
ui3on  it,  is  always  able  to  reach  some 
jDort  in  case  of  need,  or  to  call  for  heli?. 
At  the  very  worst,  it  can  drive  before 
the  wind  for  a  few  davs,  and  wait  for 
better  weather.  But  all  this  is  imjDos- 
sible  for  the  U-boat.  In  addition  to 
the  dangers  of  the  sea,  it  must  reckon 
with  danger  from  the  side  of  the  ene- 
my— the  cruellest  and  most  merciless 
of  all  enemies.     There  is  no  j)ort  of 

[75] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

distress  open  to  it.  Should  it  remain 
helpless  upon  the  surface  only  a  few 
hours  and  be  discovered,  then  every 
passing  sail,  which  would  be  the  first 
to  bring  help  to  a  steamer  in  distress, 
will  merely  proceed  to  call  to  lowering 
bloodhounds  of  the  sea  to  fall  upon 
their  prey.  The  master  of  no  ship  is 
so  lonely,  so  forced  to  depend  en- 
tirely upon  himself  as  the  master 
of  a  submarine.  Should  he  not  be  able 
to  depend  absolutely  upon  his  craft,  he 
is  doomed  beyond  hope. 

So  we  of  the  Deutscliland  all  knew 
what  we  owed  to  Chief  Engineer  Er- 
bach,  the  constructor  of  our  boat,  and 
to  the  Germania  Yard,  where  it  was 
built.  The  Deutscliland' s  quality  is 
owing  to  Erbach's  plans  and  the  ad- 
mirable co-operation  of  all  the  men 
who  had  her  construction  in  charge. 

[•76] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscMand 


All  the  work  done  upon  the  stocks  at 
Kiel  in  that  amazingly  short  time  dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1915,  work  exact  and 
minute  to  the  most  microscopic  detail, 
all  that  Herr  Erbach  had  shown  me 
and  taught  me  upon  those  unforget- 
table trial  trips  in  the  spring  of  the 
same  year — all  these  moral  and  mate- 
rial factors  were  now  battling  their 
way  across  the  storm-lashed  ocean.  We 
were  carrying  a  new  glory  of  German 
shix)building  across  the  world. 

To  undergo  a  hurricane  upon  a  U- 
boat  is  quite  another  affair  to  encoun- 
tering it  upon  a  steamer — even  of  the 
same  tonnage.  One  must  remain  on 
the  surface  as  long  as  possible  in  order 
to  make  progress  with  the  powerful 
oil  engines.  The  electric  power  of  the 
storage  batteries  must  be  economized 
for  use  in  the  most  extreme  emergen- 

[77] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

cies,  as  it  would  otherwise  prove  impos- 
sible to  dive  or  manoeuvre  swiftly. 
But  what  is  implied  by  a  U-boat  pro- 
ceeding on  the  surface  during  a  storm  ? 
It  is  always  plunged  up  to  the  turret 
in  water,  and  even  the  turret  is  cov- 
ered by  the  waves.  The  seas  go  over 
the  entire  boat,  since  it  is  too  heavy 
to  be  lifted  like  an  ordinary  craft  and 
because,  unlike  a  steamer,  it  cannot 
bring  its  ''reserve  displacement"  to 
bear  by  boring  into  the  oncoming  seas. 
Its  entire  body  is  already  submerged, 
and  so  it  cannot  possibly  increase  its 
displacement  by  plunging  in  still  more 
deeply — thus  attaining  more  buoyancy 
and  momentum. 

The  elastic  movements  of  the  steamer, 
which  continually  changes  its  displace- 
ment during  a  heavy  sea,  and  is  lifted 
and  supported  by  a  constantly  increas- 

[78] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

ing  impetus,  is  something  tliat  does  Bot 
apply  to  tlie  U-boat.  Bellowing,  and 
with  fearful  impact,  the  ^Yaves  fall 
upon  the  trembling  body  of  the  ship. 
Its  movements  are  direct  and  in  jerks, 
and  impose  a  tremendous  strain  uj)on 
all  joints  and  ties. 

It  is  ordeals  such  as  these  which 
test  the  material  under  a  man's  feet 
and  show  what  genius  went  to  the  con- 
struction of  a  ship  which  is  able  to 
assert  itself  in  the  infernal  cauldron 
of  such  a  tempest,  yet  still  make  head- 
way and  obey  the  helm. 

Yes,  the  U -Deutscliland  was  put  to 
a  fearful  test — and  stood  it  wonder- 
fully well.  Matters  looked  ugly  for 
several  days.  Tornado-like  blasts 
whipped  up  the  sea  and  flooded  the 
vessel  wdth  thundering  mountains  of 
water.    Naturally,  all  the  manholes  of 

[79] 


Voyage  of  the  Deiitschland 


the  deck  were  battened  down.  Even 
that  one  which  opened  upon  the  plat- 
form of  the  turret  and  was  so  well 
protected  by  the  w^all  of  the  *' bath-tub" 
had  to  be  banged  shut  at  short  inter- 
vals by  the  officer  on  watch — whenever 
a  sea  came  roaring  up. 

It  was  no  joke — this  duty  upon  the 
turret.  Still,  it  was  infinitely  more 
desirable  than  to  remain  below  decks 
where  the  confined  air  and  the  ever- 
lasting rolling  and  pitching  of  the  ves- 
sel began  to  play  havoc  with  the  men, 
who  all  suffered  from  sea-sickness. 
Many  an  old  experienced  sailor  made 
his  first  offering  to  ISTeptime  under 
such  conditions. 

On  the  third  day  the  weather  at  last 
began  to  abate.  The  seas  subsided  and 
we  were  able  to  open  all  the  various 
manholes  so  as  to  air  the  interior  and 

[80] 


@  Tilt.  Film  Sorvicp 

Lefl — Captain  Hinsc  i  i . 

oL"  North  German  Lloyd 

(!( ithr — Captain  Paul  K<">M(; 
Right — Paul  G.  L.  Hilken, 

AiniTiran  Manascr.  Oeniian  Ocean  XavigatUm  Co. 


Voymjc  of  the  DeutscJdand 

help  it  to  dry.  All  the  men  of  the 
watch  off  duty  came  up  to  stretch  and 
sun  themselves  on  the  deck.  Some  of 
them  needed  it  badly.  They  came  up 
from  below  with  pale  faces  and  weary 
eyes.  But  no  sooner  did  they  snuff  the 
fresh  sea-breezes  than  they  would  light 
up  their  beloved  weeds. 

As  few  steamers  were  to  be  expected 
along  our  present  route,  we  decided  to 
have  a  great  drying-out.  Every  man 
brought  up  his  damj)  things  —  which 
would  never  dry  in  the  confined  air 
below — to  be  aired  above  deck.  The 
whole  deck  was  full  of  mattresses, 
blankets,  clothes  and  boots.  The  un- 
derwear was  fastened  to  the  wires  of 
the  hand-rail  and  fluttered  merrily  in 
the  wind  as  upon  a  wash-line.  The 
men  lay  about  between  and  sunned 
themselves  like  lizards.     In  order  to 

[81] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

increase  the  fan  ventilation  of  the 
quarters  below  by  good  draughts  of 
natural  air,  wind  catchers  were  put  up 
around  all  the  manholes  or  trap-doors. 
These  have  scalloped  side-wings  and 
resemble  the  fins  of  fish.  The  curved, 
greenish  body  of  the  Deutschland 
rigged  out  with  these  things  took  on 
the  appearance  of  some  fantastic  pre- 
historic fish-monster.  We  must  have 
presented  a  remarkable  spectacle! 

But  there  was  nobody  about  to  see 
us  or  express  surprise.  A  single 
steamer  came  popping  up  on  the  hori- 
zon toward  evening,  heralded  by  its 
smoke,  but  we  were  able  to  keep  clear 
by  a  change  of  course. 

The  spirit  of  the  men  was  splendid. 
One  of  the  signs  of  this  was  the  voice 
of  the  gramophone  from  the  quarters 
of  the  crew.    We  also  had  our  "canned 

[82] 


Voyage  of  tlte  Deutschland 

music"  in  the  officers'  mess — for  life 
aboard  a  U-boat  would  be  unthinkable 
without  it. 

The  more  or  less  monotonous  part 
of  our  voyage  now  began.  The  weather 
remained  fair — we  did  not  expect  to 
meet  with  many  craft. 

I  find  the  following  note  in  my  log- 
book: 

**The  boring  part  of  our  trip  has 
now  arrived.  The  boat  keeps  on  her 
course  always  twisting  a  little,  now 
and  then  we  evade  a  steamer.  Days 
go  by  without  our  seeing  anything 
whatsoever.  The  gramophones  play 
and  everybody  is  in  excellent  spirits. 
A  U-boat  on  the  high  seas  makes  a 
man  more  dependent  ujDon  the  weather 
than  any  other  spot  in  the  world." 

This  was  really  the  first  opportunity 
we  had  had  for  breathing  freely.    We 

[83] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

looked  backward,  we  looked  forward, 
and  all  of  us  grew  more  conununica- 
tive  "under  the  influence  of  this  eternal 
sameness  of  the  sea. 

I  happened  to  be  standing  on  the 
foredeck  one  day.  Beside  me,  in  the 
open  wooden  shell  which  covers  the 
small,  raised  deck  amidships  beneath 
which  our  life-boat  is  stored,  crouched 
our  gigantic  boatswain,  Hmnke.  Sev- 
eral fastenings  had  been  loosened  dur- 
ing the  stormy  days,  and  these  had  to 
be  tightened.  I  had  been  standing 
there  for  quite  a  while,  gazing  west- 
ward, my  thoughts  fixed  upon  America 
— our  goal. 

I  was  suddenly  moved  by  a  strong 
desire  to  talk  to  that  good  soul  Humke 
about  these  things.  I  asked  him  what 
he  thought  of  our  voyaging  to  America 
in  the  very  midst  of  the  war.     What 

[84] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

was  his  opinion  as  to  tlie  j)urpose  of 
our  enterprise? 

The  worthy  fellow  grinned  and 
replied  at  once:  *'Why,  to  make 
money!" 

This  was  a  bit  too  summary  for  me, 
and  I  tried  to  make  him  understand 
what  it  would  mean  to  resrnne  our 
trade  relations  with  America — in  the 
very  midst  of  war  and  in  the  face  of 
all  the  English  blockading  squadrons. 
I  also  explained  to  him  the  purpose  of 
the  British  blockade.  He  answered 
quickly  in  his  Hamburg  dialect:  *'Yes, 
now  I  know  just  what  these  Englanders 
are  aiming  for  with  their  blockade." 

I  went  further  and  explained  to 
him  as  best  I  could,  the  essentials  and 
the  meaning  of  an  effective  blockade. 
His  answer  was  given  with  all  the 
naive   assurance   of   our   seamen   and 

[85] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


with  the  real  accent  of  the  soul  of  the 
populace : 

''Ach!  they  won't  get  us,  any- 
way! And  then,  what's  the  use  of  that 
whole  English  blockade,  eh?" 

In  the  meantime,  several  men  of  the 
watch  off  duty  had  come  up  and  were 
listening  to  my  talk.  There  they  stood, 
with  legs  far  apart,  on  the  deck  of  a 
small  U-boat  in  the  middle  of  the  At- 
lantic— broad-shouldered,  fearless  Ger- 
man seamen. 

^'Well,  now,"  I  said,  "y^^  ^^^^  ^^"^ 
heard  why  we  are  pounding  away 
across  these  seas.  But  I  should  like  to 
say  a  little  more  to  you. 

*'My  dear  fellows!  It  is  hard  to 
realize  the  real  meaning  of  this  trip 
of  ours!  Our  gallant  little  Deutsch- 
land represents  much  more  than  a  U- 
f  reight  boat,  with  which  we  are  carry- 

[86] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

ing  German  goods  to  the  Americans. 
These  goods,  of  course,  are  such  as  Eng- 
lish trade-envy  and  English  craft  have 
prevented  from  reaching  America  up 
to  now.  And  this  not  only  in  order 
to  damage  German  exports,  but  to 
draw  profit  from  the  disadvantages 
of  others — to  injure  American  manu- 
facturers and  American  trade  in  a 
most  serious  fashion.  Well,  we'll  do 
our  little  best  to  end  that!  But  that 
is  not  all  by  any  means.  The  appear- 
ance of  the  first  trade  submarine  means 
much  more.  Without  carrying  a  sin- 
gle gun  or  a  torpedo,  our  good  ship 
Deutscliland  will  help  to  revolutionize 
the  nature  of  all  sea-traffic,  not  only 
as  regards  the  entire  trans-oceanic 
commerce,  but  also  all  international 
law — a  revolution  of  the  most  far-reach- 
ing consequences. 

[87] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

"What  has  been  the  history  of  sea- 
traffic  in  this  war — and  of  the  U-boats 
of  our  N"avy?  We  used  these  boats  in 
order  to  protect  ourselves  against  the 
barbaric  methods  of  starvation  so  con- 
trary to  all  international  law.  And 
what  did  the  English  then  do?  They 
armed  their  merchant-ships  and  bom- 
barded every  U-boat  which  approached 
them  for  the  legal  purpose  of  sinking 
contraband.  And  this  is  what  these 
people  call  defense. 

"What  was  the  natural  result  of 
this?  We  protect  ourselves  and  our 
submarines,  toward  which  every  fish- 
ing-trawler is  apt  to  prove  a  Bardlong 
butcher,  and  without  warning  we  sink 
these  armed  English  merchant-ships 
so  that  we  ourselves  may  not  be  sud- 
denly simk  by  shell-fire  or  by  ram- 
ming. 

[88] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

**And.  tlien  the  English  begin  to 
whine  for  help.  And  with  interna- 
tional law  as  it  at  present  stands,  they 
manage  to  win  the  Americans  to  their 
point  of  view;  for  as  the  law  at  pres- 
ent exists,  there  are  no  regulations  for 
submarines.  We  desire  only  peace 
with  the  great  American  people  and  so 
we  give  way.  That  government  which 
rewarded  the  Captain  of  the  Bara- 
long  appears  to  have  carried  off  a 
victory — it  has  been  decided  that  mer- 
chant vessels  are  not  to  be  simk  without 
warning. 

"And  now  our  Deutscliland  comes 
along.  It  is  a  U-boat  and  a  merchant 
vessel.  Merchant  vessels  are  not  to  be 
sunk  without  warning — the  law  as  it 
exists  contains  no  regulations  for  U- 
boats.  But  a  merchant  submarine 
which  must  be  examined  before  it  is 

[89] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

sunk  would  be  rather  difficult  to  cap- 
ture— so  long  as  it  is  capable  of  div- 
ing. Here  the  swiftest  torpedo-boat  is 
quite  powerless. 

*'The  English  have  been  caught  in 
their  own  trap.  The  Deutschland 
brings  about  the  collapse  of  this  entire 
one-sided  interpretation  of  the  formal 
law.  That  which  was  first  used  against 
us  now  becomes  our  defense.  ' 

*^ Things  now  stand  thus:  If  mer- 
chant vessels,  which,  of  course,  may 
also  be  built  as  submarines,  must  not 
be  sunk  without  examination,  then  our 
Deutschland  under  the  existing  laws 
has  -satiated  the  right  of  the  English 
blockade.  For  I  should  like  to  see  the 
German  merchant  U-boat  which  an 
English  patrol  steamer  could  approach 
close  enough  to  examine. 

^'Or,    if   the   U-boat   is   not   to   be 

[90] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

searched,  then  merchant  vessels  may  be 
sunk  without  warning — including  the 
English.  Thus  the  laws  of  warfare 
would  once  more  be  brought  into  a  just 
equii)oise  by  means  of  a  peaceful,  un- 
armed merchant-submarine. 

^^Such,  my  men,  is  the  tremendous 
importance  which  devolves  upon  the 
appearance  of  our  Deutschland/' 

And  thus  I  closed  what  I  think  was 
the  longest  speech  which  I  ever  made 
in  my  life. 


The  beautiful  weather  continued. 
The  barometer  remained  at  fair,  the 
atmosphere  dry  and  clear.  We  gradu- 
ally approached  the  latitudes  in  which 
fair  weather  may  be  expected  during 
this  season  of  the  year.  The  warmth 
of  the  sun's  rays  was  making  itself 

[91] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

felt,  and  we  began  to  plan  ways  of  re- 
freshing ourselves. 

Our  "surf -bath"  was  one  of  the  best 
of  these.  This  was  the  invention  of 
our  engine-watchman,  Kissling.  He 
usually  had  no  interest  in  anything  ex- 
cept his  motors.  For  these  he  was  ani- 
mated by  a  most  touching  and  unpar- 
alleled devotion.  How  often,  when  high 
seas  were  raging,  had  I  seen  a  man  pop 
up  through  the  turret  manhole  and  at- 
temj^t  to  force  himself  in  blind  haste 
through  the  '* bath-tub"  without  regard 
to  the  sublime  acts  of  navigation  which 
were  just  being  performed  there.  And 
whenever  the  officer  on  watch  was  about 
to  remonstrate  angrily  over  this  dis- 
turbance, it  was  always  our  valiant 
Kissling  who,  impelled  by  a  deep 
anxiety  for  his  motors,  and  garbed  in 
his  oldest  oilskins,  would  go  scrambling 

[92] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

across  the  dripping  and  flooded  decks 
toward  the  stern  to  have  a  look  at  his 
exhaust-pipes.  He  was  also  moved  to 
examine  the  combustion  of  his  motors 
a  thousand  times  a  day — to  see  if  the 
pulse-beat  of  his  engines  was  all  it 
should  be  and  the  explosions  regular. 
He  was  entirely  absorbed  hj  his  be- 
loved engines,  and  their  rhythm  became 
part  of  his  life.  He  could  sense  the 
slightest  irregularity  in  their  working, 
and  would  not  rest  until  he  had  found 
and  removed  it. 

He  must  have  been  struck  by  the  idea 
during  one  of  his  rather  dangerous  ex- 
peditions across  the  sloping,  slippery 
decks.  Anyway,  he  made  us  all  happy 
one  day  with  his  invention  of  the 
"surf -bath."  The  thing  was  quite 
simple  and  obvious — like  all  great  in- 
ventions. 

[93] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

In  order  to  understand  it  properly, 
you  must  picture  to  yourself  the  outer 
superstructure  of  the  Deutscliland. 
The  outer  hull  which  gives  its  distinc- 
tive shape  to  the  vessel  is  built  over 
the  cylinder-like  compression  hull  and 
the  lateral  submersion  tanks  and  oil- 
bunkers.  The  upper  part  of  this  outer 
hull  also  contains  the  so-called  outer 
tanks,  which  are  always  flooded  when 
the  ship  is  loaded.  Water  and  air 
have  ingress  to  these  tanks  through 
many  openings,  holes  and  slits,  that 
diving  and  rising  may  be  facilitated. 
The  outer  tanks,  therefore,  play  no 
part  so  far  as  the  floating  capacity  of 
the  vessel  goes.  They  are  a  mere  re- 
sult of  the  outer  skin  which  gives  the 
craft  its  shiplike  shape.  Toward  the 
top,  this  outer  shell  does  not  follow  the 
shape    of    the    compression   hull    and 

[94] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

tanks.  In  spite  of  their  comparatively 
minor  importance,  the  outer  tanks  must 
naturally  be  accessible  from  above. 
This  is  made  possible  by  large  covers 
which  are  fitted  into  the  outer  shell. 
There  are  also  ladders  which  facilitate 
descent  into  the  tanks.  When  stand- 
ing on  the  so-called  tank-deck,  there  is 
still  enough  room  between  this  and  the 
deck  line  for  a  man  to  stand  erect  in 
the  outer  tanks. 

When  the  ship  is  under  way,  the 
sea-water,  of  course,  comes  pouring 
into  this  large  space  from  all  sides. 
One  need  only  step  into  the  manhole 
after  removing  the  covers  in  order  to 
enjoy  a  most  wonderful  and  absolutely 
safe  ocean  *' surf -bath." 

We  made  frequent  use  of  this  idea 
and  had  splendid  baths. 

There   was   only   one   disadvantage. 

[95] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


In  case  you  stepped  into  the  '^surf- 
batli"  after  we  had  risen  from  a  sub- 
mersion you  would  be  given  not  a 
surf  but  a  regular  oil-bath.  The  oil- 
bunkers  are  seldom  hermetically  tight, 
especially  after  a  long  and  difficult 
course.  And  so  it  happens  that  the 
rising  boat  frequently  breaks  through 
a  layer  of  its  own  oil  as  it  mounts  to 
the  surface.  This  layer  of  oil  then 
settles  upon  the  ''bath-tub,"  the  covers 
of  the  manholes  and  the  decks.  In 
the  outer  tanks  it  naturallv  remains 
upon  the  surface  of  the  water,  which 
cannot  change  very  rapidly  here.  It 
usually  took  more  than  a  day  before 
the  stale,  oily  water  had  streamed 
away  from  these  tanks  and  been  re- 
placed by  new.  So  whoever  hai3pened 
to  make  use  of  the  ''surf -bath"  during 
this  period  would  come  out  but  little 

[96] 


@  lut.  Film  Service 

Captain    Pail  Kilxu; 

riHitomiiiili  Inkcii  ill  I'.jiltiinorc  on   arriviil   of 
the  l)rnt.sclilan(l 


(c)  Int.  Film  Sfi\  kv 

Paul  G.  L.  IIilken 

American  Mauager  German  Ocean  Navigation  Co. 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

refreshed  and  with  a  skin  that  shone 
in  all  colors,  like  that  of  the  *' Nickel- 
man"  in  Hauptmann's  *' Sunken  Bell." 
The  crew,  of  course,  always  took  a 
special  delight  in  this  metamorj)hosis. 


The  fine  weather  also  gave  an  op- 
portunity to  play  another  sort  of  game 
with  my  men — something  that  was  not 
without  bearing  upon  the  smooth  pro- 
gress of  our  voj^age.  We  got  out  our 
sextants  and  proceeded  once  more  to 
get  our  exact  bearings  by  means  of  the 
sun.  We  had  been  able  to  locate  our- 
selves only  approximately  during  the 
stormy  days  that  had  preceded  this  fair 
spell.  The  marvellously  clear  air  im- 
pelled me  to  exercise  myself  at  dusk 
in  the  observation  of  stars  and  in 
computing  the  height  of  the  con- 
stellations. 

^  [  97  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

After  my  long  period  of  idleness 
ashore  I  felt  a  positive  need  to  pro- 
duce my  chronometer  and  sextant  and 
to  calculate  a  proper  bearing  under 
these  most  remarkable  circumstances. 

Astronomical  navigation  aboard  a 
U-boat  is  not  a  particularly  easy  task. 

An  old  steamer  captain  cannot  but 
feel  a  trifle  queer  when  navigating  a 
craft  of  this  sort  through  the  great 
trade  routes — and  a  by  no  means  tiny 
craft — from  the  low  post  of  vantage 
of  a  turret.  One  does  not  have  the  cus- 
tomary outlook  upon  the  sea;  one  has 
to  reckon  with  a  factor  of  movement 
that  is  quite  strange;  one  must  accus- 
tom oneself  to  a  new  method  of  ma- 
noeuvering  and  to  new  conditions  of 
command  and  the  estimation  of  dis- 
tance. But  it  is  especially  strange  to 
take  the  attitude  of  the  sun  from  the 

[98] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutsc/dand 


narrow  "batli-tub"  of  a  submarine 
turret,  or  to  check  off  a  course  or 
reckon  out  a  latitude.  One  is  accus- 
tomed to  carry  out  one's  measurements 
and  reckonings  at  ease  from  the  broad 
bridge  of  a  great  liner — liigh  above 
the  water — and  to  have  all  the  neces- 
sary data  promptly  furnished  by  the 
signalman.  From  the  bridge  one  pro- 
ceeds to  the  adjoining  chart-room 
whence,  upon  a  large  chart-table,  one 
can  proceed  to  make  one's  calculations 
in  ease  and  comfort. 

And  now  as  to  methods  upon  the 
U-boat.  Jammed  in  an  oval  steel  tank 
of  about  the  size  of  a  lady's  small 
trunk,  you  cling  for  dear  life  to  a 
small  flap-seat,  press  one  shoulder 
against  the  parapet  and  try  to  hold  the 
sextant  upright  with  a  convulsive  grip 
— until  the  image  of  the  sun  appears 

[99] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

directly  on  tlie  artificial  horizon.  You 
are  then  obliged  to  shield  the  instru- 
ment quickly  behind  the  protecting 
wall  and  to  scuttle  down  the  ladder 
into  the  central,  just  as  you  had  pre- 
viously scuttled  up — Chugging  the  in- 
struments and  charts  against  your 
breast  and  bracing  yourself  with  back 
and  knees.  You  then  wedge  yourself 
once  more  through  the  turret  manhole, 
your  eye  kept  peeled  for  every  breaker, 
and  get  to  work  with  compass  and 
parallel  ruler. 

Your  chart-table  is  your  knee,  and 
you  have  the  consciousness  of  having 
made  your  entire  calculations  in  a 
cowering  attitude. 

What  joy  under  such  circumstances 
to  be  able  to  work  quietly  on  deck  with 
a  smooth  sea  and  a  clear  sky! 

The  experimental  divings  which  we 

[100] 


Voyage  of  the  Deiitschland 

made  almost  every  day,  were  greatly 
facilitated  by  the  fine  weather.  Every- 
thing chimed  perfectly.  We  would  be 
able  to  approach  the  American  coast 
in  peace  and  to  dive  into  the  three- 
mile  limit. 

During  these  experimental  diving 
tests  we  were  treated  to  a  spectacle  of 
fairj^-like  loveliness. 

I  had  set  the  rudder  in  such  a  way 
that  the  turret  was  traveling  about 
three  yards  under  water.  Overhead 
the  sun  shone  brilliantlv  and  filled  the 
deeps  with  a  clear  radiance.  The 
pure  water  w^as  luminous  with  color — 
close  at  hand  it  was  of  a  light  azure 
blue,  of  fabulous  clearness  and  trans- 
parent as  glass.  I  could  see  the  entire 
boat  from  the  turret  windows.  The 
shimmering  pearls  of  the  air-bubbles 
which  rise  constantly  from  the  body  of 

[101] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

the  craft  played  about  the  entire  length 
of  the  vessel  from  deck  to  bows,  and 
every  detail  stood  out  in  miraculous 
sharpness.  Farther  ahead  there  was  a 
multi-colored  twilight.  It  seemed  as  if 
the  prow  kept  pushing  itself  noise- 
lessly into  a  wall  of  opalescent  green 
which  parted,  glistening,  and  grew  to 
an  ethereal,  rainbow-like  translucency 
close  at  hand 

We  were  spell-bound  by  this  vision 
of  beauty.  The  fairy-like  effect  was 
increased  by  medusae  which,  poised  in 
the  transparent  blue,  frequently  be- 
came entangled  in  the  wires  of  the 
mine-guards  or  the  railings  and  glowed 
like  trembling  fires  of  rose,  pale  gold 
and  purple.  We  saw  no  fish  at  this 
low  depth.  The  following  day  we  had 
a  little  experience  which  provided 
great  fun  for  us,  even  though  the  end 

[102] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscMand 

was  different  from  what  we  had  ex- 
pected. 

My  ambition  had  been  aroused  by 
the  various  successes  which  my  com- 
rades of  the  fleet  and  the  merchant- 
marine  had  achieved  by  hiding  the 
identity  of  their  ships  by  means  of 
paint  or  other  disguises,  so  as  to  de- 
ceive the  enemy. 

During  the  fine  weather  we  had  pre- 
pared a  most  marvelous  framework — 
representing  the  outline  of  a  steamer. 
This  would  serve  to  hide  our  U-boat 
character  to  steamers  passing  at  a  con- 
siderable distance.  A  smoke-stack  had 
been  rigged  up  out  of  canvas  and  this 
could  be  fastened  to  the  periscope  by 
means  of  wire  tackle  and  rings.  It 
was  able  to  rear  proudly  into  the  air. 

A  mask  of  canvas  had  been  made  for 
the     disguising    of    the    turret — this 

[  103  ] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

would  give  it  the  appearance  of  a 
small  freight-boat. 

Thus  prepared  for  all  emergencies, 
we  boomed  along  in  the  most  beautiful 
sunshine,  when  one  evening,  at  half -past 
seven,  a  steamer  suddenly  loomed  up  to 
starboard.  We  soon  realized  that  she 
would  have  to  pass  quite  close  to  us 
should  we  keep  on  our  course.  We 
therefore  edged  off  a  little  and  pro- 
ceeded to  put  our  disguise  to  a  test. 

The  *' smoke-stack"  was  hoisted  upon 
the  periscope  and  the  wind  blew  it  out 
to  an  imposing  size.  In  order  to  give 
it  still  more  reality,  we  burned  a  hand- 
ful of  oil-soaked  cotton  waste  at  its 
lower  end.  The  turret  disappeared 
behind  a  somewhat  fluttery  ^' upper 
works." 

But  the  undutiful  cotton-waste  con- 
sented merely  to  glow  and  refused  to 

[104] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

give  out  anj  smoke.  Everybody  stood 
round  with  puffed-up  cheeks  and  blew 
and  blew.  Then  the  wireless  operator, 
an  inventive  Berliner,  fetched  an  air- 
pump  and  started  a  fearful  fire  in  our 
imaginary  furnaces.  He  was  rewarded 
with  a  cheer,  and  above  the  edge  of 
our  *' smoke-stack"  appeared  a  thin 
little  cloudlet  which  immediately  dis- 
solved into  nothingness. 

iWe  laughed,  and  were  about  to  pro- 
ceed smokeless  upon  our  way  when 
Humke,  the  boatswain,  appeared  with 
a  can  full  of  tar.  The  air-pumx3  once 
more  performed  its  duty  and  at 
length  the  smoke-stack  might  literally 
have  been  described  as  vomiting  smoke. 

The  effect  was  startling.  For  the 
steamer  suddenly  changed  her  course 
and — steered  directly  toward  us! 

This  was  not  precisely  what  we  had 

[105] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

worked  for.  I  at  once  ordered  our 
mast  to  be  dismounted  and  to  clear 
ship  for  diving.  The  canvas  super- 
structure disappeared  and  the  magnifi- 
cent smoke-stack  made  a  bow  and  col- 
lapsed. 

But  the  steamer  had  no  sooner  seen 
this  and  recognized  us  as  a  U-boat 
than  she  was  seized  with  a  blind  con- 
sternation. She  once  more  veered 
about  and  began  to  take  to  her  heels, 
pouring  out  thick  clouds  of  smoke — 
which  we  could  not  help  regarding 
with  a  certain  amount  of  envy. 

But  undismayed  we  once  more 
hoisted  our  stack.  The  masts  went  up 
again  and  while  the  steamer  went 
plunging  off  in  desperate  haste,  we 
stood  and  laughed  until  the  tears  rolled 
doT\Ti  our  cheeks.  The  humor  of  the 
thing  was  simply  overwhelming. 

[  106  ] 


Voyage  of  tJie  Deutschland 

Our  beautiful  framework,  which  was 
intended  to  hide  the  character  of  our 
craft  and  render  us  inconspicuous,  was 
precisely  what  had  first  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  gallant  steadier.  She 
apparently  took  us  for  a  wreck  or  a 
ship  in  distress  and  came  on  with  the 
best  of  intentions,  only  to  be  suddenly 
confronted  with  the  diabolical  subter- 
fuge of  a  hypocritical  submarine ! 

I  wonder  what  the  people  aboard 
her  thought  after  they  had  recovered 
from  their  first  fright  ?  I  presume  that 
they  finally  concluded  to  be  mon- 
strously proud  of  having  escaped  this 
latest  trick  of  the  ^'pirates"  in  such 
a  skillful  fashion. 

We  ourselves  would  have  been  far 
prouder  had  our  framework  performed 
its  functions  in  better  style. 

We  did  not  iDermit  ourselves  to  be 

[107] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

discouraged,  however,  but  improved 
our  devices.  We  met  with  great  suc- 
cess two  days  later,  when  we  went 
bowling  past  a  steamer — coming  in  the 
opposite  direction — under  a  tremen- 
dous development  of  smoke  and  with- 
out being  recognized. 


[108] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 


VIII 

HELL  WITH  THE  LID  ON 

June  was  drawing  to  a  close  and 
with  it,  unfortunately,  the  good 
weather. 

A  rising  swell  from  the  southwest, 
and  the  absence  of  the  hoped-for  favor- 
able current,  were  signs  that  there  was 
a  storm-center  jDrogressing  along  the 
southern  reaches  of  the  Gulf  Stream. 

We  proceeded  thus  for  another  day. 

Toward  evening  it  began  to  grow 
sultry  and  oppressive;  the  sun  sank 
doubtfully  behind  blood-red  veils  of 
mist. 

A  wicked-looking  sky  and  lively 
sheet  lightning,  as  well  as  the  rapidly 

[109] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

increasing  hot  humidity  of  the  atmos- 
phere, proclaimed  that  we  were  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Gulf  Stream. 
Toward  night,  tremendous  thunder- 
storms came  on,  with  a  wind  that  came 
raging  from  all  directions  at  once,  and 
a  wild,  cross-running  sea,  which  made 
steering  very  difficult. 

We  tested  the  temperature  of  the 
water.  It  mounted  gradually  to  28" 
Celsius. 

We  were  in  the  Gulf  Stream,  which 
defines  its  periphery  in  the  airs  above 
it  with  a  fiery  wreath  of  heavy  tropical 
storms. 

There  was  a  strong  phosphorescence 
of  the  sea  and  violent  atmospheric  dis- 
turbances— all  of  which  are  accom- 
panying phenomena  of  the  Gulf 
Stream.  We  were  aware  of  this  by  the 
behavior    of   our   wireless    apparatus, 

[110] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


which  was  irritated  by  the  heavily 
charged  electric  atmosphere  and  began 
to  go  on  strike.  Until  now  the  faithful 
thing  had  transmitted  to  us  the  Ger- 
man military  bulletins  of  the  station 
Nauen  without  interruj)tion,  day  after 

day. 

The  phosphorescence  of  the  sea  seri- 
ously hindered  the  lookout.  One  was 
almost  blinded,  the  eyes  grew  painful, 
and  the  vision  became  unsteady 
through  this  persistent  coruscation  of 
the  waves  in  the  coal-black  night.  This 
was  rather  uncomfortable,  for  we  had 
now  reached  a  region  which  was  inter- 
sected by  many  steamer  routes,  and  it 
was  necessary  to  take  double  precau- 
tions. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  weather  grew 
extremely  vicious.  A  rough  sea  began 
to  rise.     Heavy  showers  of  hail  came 

[111] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

rattling  down  upon  the  decks,  and  the 
waves  were  lashed  into  foam.  The 
wind  increased  to  velocity  11  to  12. 

In  the  mighty  vault  above  this  seeth- 
ing ocean  hung  heavy,  dun-colored 
masses  of  clouds  which  flung  forth  fal- 
low lightnings  without  pause — ^whole 
broadsides  of  lightnings.  Then  the 
skies  suddenly  sank  back  into  stygian 
night  while  the  ship  and  the  surround- 
ing water  went  flaming  up  in  greenish 
fire  until  every  detail  stood  out  in  all 
its  starkness. 

The  whole  heavens  were  now  con- 
verted into  a  bellowing  chaos.  One 
single  and  unbroken  salvo  of  crashing 
thunder  went  rolling  over  us.  We 
reached  the  verv  center.  A  maniacal 
witch's  dance  of  primeval  tempests 
raged  around  the  boat.  It  seemed  to 
be  the  end  of  all  things.     Then  sud- 

[112] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

• -       -       -  JWI_1__I , 

denly  beliind  us  the  top-lights  of  a 
great  liner  came  into  view.  We  were 
able  to  avoid  her  course  owing  to  the 
darkness.  She  passed  by  some  dis- 
tance away  like  a  luminous  apparition. 
Judging  by  her  course,  this  passenger 
ship  must  have  hailed  from  the  Medi- 
terranean. I  must  confess  that  we  fol- 
lowed her  rows  of  lights  with  some 
little  feeling  of  envy  until  the  rain 
and  the  darkness  once  more  swallowed 
her  up.  The  storm  reached  its  height 
on  the  following  day.  Hurricane  blasts 
came  sweeping  along  and  the  air  was 
filled  with  unceasing  showers  of  spray. 
The  water  no  longer  came  do\sTi  in 
threads.  These  were  cascades;  these 
were  walls  of  water  which  came  plung- 
ing down  upon  us,  whipping  our  faces 
and  hands  until  they  smarted  with 
pain.    The  rain  was  so  thick  that  one 

«  [ 113  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

was  no  longer  able  to  see.  In  order 
merely  to  see  a  yard  or  two,  it  was 
necessary  to  hold  a  small  pane  of  glass 
in  front  of  one's  eyes — with  the  result 
that  a  small  waterfall  ran  from  the 
glass  into  one's  sleeve. 

The  boat  labored  fearfully  in  this 
mad  sea.  The  waves  threw  it  back  and 
forth,  so  that  it  creaked  in  every  joint 
and  rivet.  Sometimes  it  heeled  over 
to  such  an  extent  that  one  was  scarce 
able  to  cling  to  the  parapet  of  the 
^'bath-tub." 

It  was  an  inferno,  pure  and  simple. 

But  this  was  as  nothing  compared 
to  the  hell  down  below,  especially  in 
the  engine-room. 

This  ferocious  sea  had  naturally 
forced  us  to  keep  all  openings  battened 
down.  Even  the  manhole  in  the  tur- 
ret could  only  be  kept  open  at  inter- 

[114] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

vals.  It  is  true  that  two  large  ventila- 
tion fans  were  going  continuously,  but 
the  fresh  air  which  they  sucked  dovm 
from  the  carefully  protected  ventila- 
tion shaft  was  at  once  devoured  by  the 
greedy  Diesel  motors.  These  hungry 
monsters  out  of  sheer  ingratitude,  re- 
turned us  nothing  but  heat — a  heavy, 
oppressive  heat,  saturated  with  a 
frightful  smell  of  oil,  which  the  ven- 
tilating fans  kept  whipping  and  whirl- 
ing through  all  the  chambers  of  the 
boat.  A  refreshing  effect  could  hardly 
be  expected  from  ventilation  such  as 
this ! 

In  addition  to  this,  the  air  in  the 
boat  was  saturated  with  moisture  to 
an  almost  unbelievable  degree.  It  no 
longer  seemed  possible  to  breathe  and 
with  a  resigned  hangman's  humor  we 
faced  the   moment  which  would  con- 

[115] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

vert  us  into  fish.  Wiien  the  hatches 
are  closed  down,  water  is  precipitated 
through  all  parts  of  the  isolated  body 
of  the  ship — a  heavy  sweat  which  the 
heat  once  more  converts  into  vapor, 
until  everything  is  soaked  and  grows 
mouldy.  All  the  drawers  and  the 
doors  of  the  cupboards  swell  and  jam. 
Then  there  are  the  wet  garments  in 
which  the  watch  descends  from  the 
turret,  and  these  help  to  spread 
a  pestilence  through  the  narrow 
space. 

You  can  have  no  conception  of  the 
atmosphere  that  is  evolved  by  degrees 
under  these  circumstances,  nor  of  the 
hellish  temperature  which  brews  within 
the  shell  of  steel. 

While  in  the  Gulf  Stream  we  Had 
an  outer  temperature  of  28°  Celsius. 
This   was   about   the   warmth   of   the 

[116] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

sui-roimding  water.  Fresh  air  no 
longer  entered.  In  the  engine-room 
two  G-cylinder  combustion  motors 
kept  hammering  away  in  a  maddening 
two-four  time.  Tliey  hurled  the  i)ower 
of  their  explosions  into  the  whirling 
crank-shafts.  The  red-hot  breath  of 
the  consumed  gases  went  crashing  out 
through  the  exhausts,  but  the  glow  of 
these  incessant  firings  remained  in  the 
cylinders  and  communicated  itself  to 
the  entire  oil-dripping  environment  of 
steel.  A  choking  cloud  of  heat  and 
oily  vapor  streamed  from  the  engines 
and  spread  itself  like  a  leaden  pres- 
sure through  the  entire  ship. 

During  these  days  the  temperature 
mounted  to  53°  Celsius. 

And  yet  men  lived  and  worked  in  a 
hell  such  as  this  I  The  watch  off  dutv, 
naked  to  the  skin,  groaned  and  writhed 

[117] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

in  their  bunks.  It  was  no  longer  pos- 
sible to  think  of  sleep.  And  when  one 
of  the  men  fell  into  a  dull  stupor,  then 
he  would  be  aroused  by  the  sweat 
which  ran  incessantly  over  his  forehead 
and  into  his  eyes,  and  would  awake  to 
new  torment. 

It  was  almost  like  a  blessed  deliver- 
ance when  the  eight  hours  of  rest  were 
over,  and  a  new  watch  was  called  to 
the  central  or  the  engine-room. 

But  there  the  real  martyrdom  began. 
Clad  only  in  an  undershirt  and  draw- 
ers, the  men  stood  at  their  posts,  a 
cloth  wound  about  their  foreheads  to 
keep  the  running  sweat  from  stream- 
ing into  their  eyes.  Their  blood  ham- 
mered and  raced  in  their  temples. 
Every  vein  boiled  as  with  fever.  It 
was  only  by  the  exertion  of  the  most 
tremendous  will-power  that  it  was  pos- 

[118] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

sible  to  force  the  dri]3ping  human  body 
to  perform  its  mechanical  dut}^  and  to 
remain  ujDright  during  the  four  hours 
of  the  watch.  .  .  . 

But  how  long  would  we  be  able  to 
endure  this? 

I  no  longer  kept  a  log  diu'ing  these 
days  and  I  find  merely  this  one  note: 
*' Temperature  must  not  rise  any 
higher  if  the  men  are  to  remain  any 
longer  in  the  engine-room." 

But  they  did  endure  it.  They  re- 
mained  erect  like  so  many  heroes,  they 
did  their  duty,  exhausted,  glowing  hot, 
and  bathed  in  sweat,  until  the  storm 
center  lay  behind  us,  until  the  weather 
cleared,  until  the  sun  broke  through 
the  clouds,  and  the  diminishing  seas 
permitted  us  once  more  to  open  the 
hatches. 

And  then  these  men  came  up  out  of 

[119] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutschland 

their  hell ;  pale,  streaming  with  oil  and 
covered  with  grime,  they  came  up  to 
the  light  of  day  and  rejoiced  in  the 
sunlight  as  though  it  shone  for  them 
for  the  first  time. 


[120] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


IX 

AMERICA 

While  we  had  avoided  all  passing 
steamers  upon  the  Atlantic,  by  adopt- 
ing another  course  when  the  weather 
permitted,  and  even  risked  being  seen 
once  or  twice,  we  now  dived  without 
exception  as  soon  as  we  saw  a  cloud 
of  smoke  upon  the  horizon.  Under  no 
circumstances  did  we  wish  to  reveal 
our  presence  as  we  made  for  the  region 
of  the  coast,  since  we  had  to  reckon 
with  the  possibility  of  encountering 
enemy  warships. 

On  the  8th  of  July  we  began  to  no- 
tice by  the  color  of  the  water  that  we 
could  no  longer  be  very  distant  from 
the  goal  of  our  voyage. 

[121] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

During  the  course  of  the  afternoon, 
I  consulted  with  my  officers  regard- 
ing the  course  toward  Cape  Henry, 
the  southerly  point  of  the  two  ranges 
of  foothills  which  form  the  entrance 
to  Hampton  Roads  and  Chesapeake 
Bay. 

I  was  of  the  opinion  that  we  should 
wait  in  deep  water  for  the  coming  of 
the  dawn  at  a  distance  of  about  ten 
miles  from  the  American  three-mile 
limit,  and  then  assure  ourselves  as  to 
whether  any  hostile  measures  had  been 
taken  against  us.  In  case  indefinite 
rumors  of  our  voyage  had  leaked  out, 
there  was  small  doubt  but  that  we 
would  have  to  reckon  with  such  meas- 
ures on  the  part  of  the  enemy. 

Krapohl,  on  the  other  hand,  pro- 
posed that  we  approach  the  coast  as 
closely  as  possible  under  cover  of  the 

[122] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

night,  and  lie  was  supported  in  this  by 
Eyring. 

Both  plans  had  their  pros  and  cons, 
and  so  I  decided  to  proceed  further 
toward  the  coast  in  the  dusk  and  then 
to  wait  and  see  what  the  weather  con- 
ditions would  turn  out  to  be. 

The  final  decision  was  soon  brought 
about  by  the  coming  up  of  a  stiff 
southwest  breeze.  This  gave  us  a  good 
range  of  vision,  which  had  not  been 
the  case  with  the  summer  weather  that 
had  hitherto  prevailed.  The  breeze, 
however,  also  brought  with  it  a  violent 
rocking  of  our  boat,  which,  with  the 
short  and  choppy  sea  that  now  de- 
veloped, became  extremely  disagree- 
able. We  therefore  decided,  without 
further  hesitation  and  upon  the  basis 
pf  exact  astronomical  calculations 
made  a  short  time  before,  to  steer  at 

[123] 


Voyage  of  tJie  Deutschland 

night  for  the  shore  lights  of  Cape 
Henry  and  Cape  Charles. 

We  proceeded  at  once  on  our 
way.  After  some  time,  a  pale  glow 
became  perceptible  upon  the  horizon. 
It  came  up  spasmodically  and  then 
vanished  again.  This  was  the  glow 
of  the  revolving  light  upon  Cape 
Henry. 

It  was  the  first  greeting  from 
America. 

Suddenly,  upon  our  starboard  bow, 
a  white  light  flashed  up.  It  disap- 
peared instantly  and  then  flickered  up 
again  several  times.  Immediately 
afterward  another  white  light  ap- 
peared off  our  port  bow,  and  this  re- 
mained fixed. 

We  looked  at  one  another. 

What  the  devil  did  this  mean?  It 
looked    confoundedly   as   though   war 

[124] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


vessels  with  blinded  lights  were  mak- 
ing light  signals  to  each  other. 

At  all  events,  we  must  keep  an  in- 
fernally sharj)  lookout. 

With  engines  going  at  half-speed, 
and  submerged  up  to  the  turret,  with 
all  men  at  their  diving-posts,  we  crept 
closer,  keeping  the  sharpest  lookout, 
and  drilling  into  the  darkness  with 
our  glasses. 

It  was  not  long  before  we  saw  that 
the  fixed  light  belonged  to  the  top  lan- 
tern of  a  harmless  outcoming  steamer, 
which  passed  us  at  a  considerable  dis- 
tance off-stern.  Soon  after  this,  where 
the  flickering  light  had  been,  we  saw 
the  outlined  sails  of  a  three-masted 
schooner.  As  is  the  custom  with  many 
of  these  coasting  vessels,  she  was  sail- 
ing without  side-lights  and  merely  dis- 
played a  white  stern  light  from  time 

[125] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

to  time.  It  was  these  lights  whicli  we 
had  mistaken  for  the  signalling  of 
warships. 

Considerably  relieved,  I  ordered  the 
engines  full  speed  ahead.  The  reflex 
of  the  fixed  light  upon  Cape  Henry 
now  came  into  view,  while  the  inter- 
mittent blinking  of  Cape  Charles  grew 
brighter  and  brighter  along  the 
horizon. 

We  now  knew  that  we  had  set  our 
course  correctly.  The  entrance  be- 
tween the  two  ranges  of  hills  lay  in 
front  of  us. 

Soon  the  beacon  lights  themselves 
came  up  above  the  horizon.  An  inde- 
scribable feeling  possessed  my  heart. 
I  saluted  Cape  Charles'  flashing  fire, 
its  tireless  blades  of  light  were  a  silent, 
but  immistakable  sj^nbol  of  security 
amidst    the    dark    infinity    that    sur- 

[126] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

rounded  us.  There,  after  our  long  and 
dangerous  voyage,  lay  the  land  at  last 
— our  goal — America. 

We  now  began  to  pass  the  bobbing 
lantern-buoys  of  the  channel.  I  recog- 
nized the  well-known  howling  of  a 
whistling  buoy  with  which  I  was 
familiar  from  my  former  trips,  and 
so  the  sense  of  hearing  also  contributed 
to  the  feeling  that  land  was  close  at 
hand. 

After  we  had  passed  the  whistling 
buoy  we  emerged  completely.  We  now 
saw  the  lights  of  various  passenger 
steamers.  The  steamers,  however,  did 
not  observe  us,  as  we  still  proceeded 
with  blinded  lights  until  we  ran  close 
off  Cape  Henry  and  had  reached  the 
American  three-mile  lunit. 

This  was  on  the  8th  of  Julv,  at  half- 
past  eleven  at  night. 

[127] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutscliland 

Once  within  the  American  neutrality 
zone,  we  set  our  lights,  and  made  our 
way  quietly  into  the  entrance  between 
the  two  capes  until  we  made  out  the 
red  and  white  top-lights  of  the  pilot 
steamer. 

We  stopped  and  burnt  the  customary 
blue  fire.  Hereupon  the  pilot  boat  at 
once  directed  its  searchlight  upon  us, 
and  as  it  was  unable  to  see  the  outlines 
of  a  steamer,  it  approached  us  very 
carefully. 

Again  and  again  the  long  luminous 
arm  of  the  searchlight  kept  feeling  the 
low  deck  and  the  turret  of  the  Deutsch- 
land. 

The  unexpected  appearance  of  our 
boat  seemed  to  have  startled  the  good 
pilot  to  such  an  extent  that  it  took  him 
a  long  time  to  fire  his  question  at  us 
through  the  megaphone. 

[128] 


'^^  o 
>  S  so 

:5  S    r  ^ 
a  o   :;5  5 


z 


O  c: 


-  ^;   5 


2:   ^    X 


^    J^    - 


2 
'3 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

**  Where  are  you  bound  for?" 
** Newport  News,"  we  replied. 
He  then  inquired  after  the  name  of 
our  ship,  which  we  gave.  But  we  were 
forced  to  repeat  it  twice  before  the 
men  on  the  pilot  boat  were  able  to  com- 
prehend what  an  unusual  visitor  lay 
before  them.  There  must  have  been 
something  of  a  sensation  aboard  that 
pilot-boat. 

A  boat  was  quickly  lowered,  and  as 
the  pilot  clunbed  over  the  round  belly 
of  the  Deutschland  up  to  our  deck,  he 
greeted  us  with  these  words,  which 
must  have  come  from  the  very  depths 
of  his  heart: 
*'I'll  be  damned,  here  she  is!" 
Then  he  shook  our  hands  again  and 
again  out  of  sheer  honest  heartiness, 
and  gave  vent  to  his  genuine  delight 
in  being  the  first  American  to  greet 

^  [  129  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 


the  U -Deutscliland,  in  the  land  of 
liberty. 

I  at  once  asked  our  friend  if  he  had 
heard  anything  of  our  being  expected. 
Great  was  my  joy  and  surprise  when 
I  learned  that  a  tug-boat  had  been 
lying  between  the  capes  for  the  past  few 
days,  evidently  looking  for  us. 

We  at  once  got  under  way  with  our 
good  pilot  in  order  to  look  for  this  tug- 
boat. 

In  the  meantime,  the  incoming  pas- 
senger steamers  had  also  discovered 
the  remarkable  stranger.  They  lighted 
us  up  from  all  sides  with  their  search- 
lights. And  thus  our  arrival  in  Ameri- 
can waters  resolved  itself  into  a  fan- 
tastic nocturne. 

The  search  for  our  tug-boat  was, 
however,  by  no  means  easy  in  the  dark- 
ness.   "We  were  obliged  to  search  for  a 

[130] 


Voyage  of  tlie  Deutscliland 

long  time   and  finally   discovered  the 
craft  after  two  hours. 

She  was  the  tow-boat  Timmins,  un- 
der conunand  of  Captain  Hinsch,  of 
the  North  German  Llovd. 

And  now  great  was  our  joy. 

That  valiant  soul,  Captain  Hinsch, 
whose  liner,  the  Neckar,  has  been  l}TJig 
in  Baltimore  since  the  outbreak  of 
war,  had  waited  for  us  more  than  ten 
daj^s  between  the  two  capes. 

Our  long  absence  had  already  caused 
him  the  greatest  anxiety  as  to  our  fate. 

He  was  now  unutterably  happy  to  see 
his  long-awaited  protege  safe  and 
sound  before  him.  He  then  communi- 
cated to  us  the  order  that  we  were  to 
proceed  to  Baltimore  instead  of  New- 
port News.  Here  ever}i;hing  had  been 
prepared  for  our  arrival. 

We  now  took  farewell  of  our  cheery 

[131] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

Newport  News  pilot,  and  made  our 
way  up  Chesapeake  Bay,  accompanied 
by  the  Timmins.  We  proudly  hoisted 
the  German  flag,  which  no  doubt  flut- 
tered for  the  first  time  in  these  waters 
since  the  Eitel  Friedrich  ran  into 
Hampton  Roads. 

Thus  in  the  gray  of  the  morning, 
we  entered  the  Bay.  Our  course  gradu- 
ally became  a  triumphal  procession. 
All  the  neutral  steamers  that  we 
passed,  American  and  others,  saluted 
us  with  three  blasts  of  their  sirens  and 
steam  whistles.  Only  an  English 
steamer  swept  by  us  in  a  poisonous 
silence,  the  while  we  let  the  black- white- 
red  banner  stream  proudly  in  the  wind. 
Captain  Hinsch  upon  his  tug-boat  kept 
an  eagle  eye  upon  the  Englishman,  lest 
he  should  chance  to  slip  his  rudder  a 
bit  and  ram  us  by  mere  accident. 

[132] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

The  gallant  Timmins  was  helpful  to 
us  in  other  ways.  We  were  able  to 
answer  the  greetings  of  the  steamers 
only  by  means  of  our  siren,  which  was 
operated  with  our  precious  compressed 
air.  This  would  in  the  end,  have  be- 
come a  rather  expensive  pleasure,  and 
so  the  Timmins  undertook  the  duty  of 
making  our  responses  with  her  big 
steam  whistle. 

The  farther  we  moved  up  the  bay, 
the  madder  grew  the  noise.  We  were 
delighted  beyond  measure  with  this, 
for  we  could  plainly  perceive  in  this 
uproar  the  sjrmpathies  which  the 
Americans  cherished  for  us  and  our 
voyage. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
the  Timmins  carefully  came  alongside. 
A  block  of  ice  was  handed  over  to  us, 
a  couple  of  bottles  of  champagne  were 

[133] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

rapidly  cooled,  and  we  proudly  clinked 
our  glasses  to  the  safe  arrival  of 
the  Deutschland  in  America.  We 
merely  regretted  that  it  was  only  the 
corks  which  popped  over  to  Captain 
Hinsch. 

What  this  first  iced  drink  meant  to 
us  can  only  be  appreciated  by  him  who 
is  able  to  picture  to  himself  what  it 
means  to  have  lived  day  after  day  in 
a  temperature  of  53°  Celsius. 

The  rumors  of  our  arrival  must  have 
spread  with  miraculous  rapidity,  for 
to  our  great  astonishment  boats  full  of 
reporters  and  film  operators  began  to 
meet  us  while  we  were  still  many  miles 
from  Baltimore. 

Although  it  was  already  growing 
dusk,  we  were  nevertheless  subjected 
to  a  violent  bombardment  by  the 
cameras.     We  should  also  most  likely 

[134] 


Voyage  of  the  DeiUschland 


have  had  to  undergo  an  endless  series 
of  questions  and  calls  had  not  the 
weather-god  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  cast- 
ing a  hospitable  eye  upon  our  need  of 
rest,  come  to  our  assistance.  A  heavy 
thunderstorm  now  broke  and  in  place 
of  a  flood  of  questions,  we  scorched 
and  tanned  navigators  were  refreshed 
by  a  cooling  flood  of  rain.  The 
Deutschland,  accompanied  by  the 
trusty  Timmins,  once  more  pursued 
her  way,  lonely  and  silent,  through  the 
falling  night  toward  her  final  goal. 

At  eleven  o'clock  at  night  we 
stopped  at  the  Baltimore  Quarantine 
Station,  and  our  anchor  rattled  for  the 
first  time  into  American  waters. 

TJ -Deutschland  had  arrived. 


[135] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


X 


BALTIMORE 


The  first  thing  upon  which  our  eyes 
fell  on  the  following  morning  was  the 
stout  and  stubby  tug-boat  Timmins, 
which  had  made  fast  alongside  us. 
There  lay  the  faithful  vessel  keeping 
watch  over  us. 

Soon  after,  about  ^yq,  o'clock,  the 
physician  of  the  Quarantine  Station 
arrived.  I  at  once  handed  to  him  the 
certificate  of  health  which  had  been 
made  out  for  us  in  due  form  on  June 
13th,  by  Mr.  William  Thomas  Fee,  the 
American  Consul  at  Bremen.  Then 
the  doctor  overhauled  the  boat  and 
passed  us  after  he  had  mustered  the 

[136] 


Voyage  of  the  Detitscliland 

crew.  Then,  as  the  first  American  official 
to  greet  us,  he  called  for  three  cheers 
for  the  DeutscMmid  and  her  crew. 

Then  we  weighed  anchor,  and  under 
the  guidance  of  the  Timmins,  we  pro- 
ceeded to  our  anchorage  at  Locust 
Point,  where  we  were  to  discharge  our 
cargo. 

No  boat  could  have  made  her  way 
more  safely  than  we  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Timmins  and  the  swarm  of 
craft  which  had  been  hired  by  the  fihn 
companies  and  now  surrounded  us. 
Five  to  six  fellows  stood,  with  cameras 
cocked,  upon  every  one  of  these  boats 
and  did  their  best  by  means  of  cheery 
calls  to  induce  us  to  assmne  more  effec- 
tive poses — such  as  are  suitable  for  the 
heroes  of  the  "movies." 

*'Show  your  face,  Cap!" 

**Turn  your  head!" 

[137] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


'*Wave  your  hand!"  And  other 
such  cries  echoed  from  all  sides,  and 
these  enterprising  chaps  turned  the 
cranks  of  their  machines  like  mad. 

I  stood  on  the  turret  and  looked 
toward  the  left,  and  then  I  looked 
toward  the  right,  and  then  I  waved 
one  hand  and  then  the  other.  A  re- 
quest to  smile  was  scarcely  necessary, 
for  the  actions  of  the  ''movie"  men 
were  imcommonly  funny. 

And  so  we  reached  our  anchorage  at 
Locust  Point  in  the  best  possible 
spirits. 

Here  everything  had  been  prepared 
by  Captain  Hinsch  through  weeks  of 
careful  work.  The  Deutschland  found 
the  snuggest  and  safest  kind  of  a  berth 
here.  It  was  so  thoroughly  protected 
from  all  outside  approach  by  means  of 
nets  and  beams  that  the  boat  seemed 

[138] 


Voyage  of  the  DeiUscldand 

safe    from    all    harm   througli    human 
agency. 

We  lay  alongside  a  wooden  pier 
which  was  built  out  into  the  stream, 
and  under  cover  of  a  large  shed,  in 
which  the  goods  we  were  to  carry 
back  already  lay  stored.  This  region 
was  so  little  frequented  that  comnimii- 
cation  between  the  pier  and  the  nearest 
good  street  had  first  to  be  established. 

The  entire  place  toward  the  land 
side  was  cut  off  by  a  large  ditch  and 
barbed  wire  entanglements. 

In  the  river  the  Deutschland  was 
protected  on  one  side  by  the  pier  and 
the  North  German  Lloyd  steamer 
Neckar.  The  Neckar  had  lain  in  Balti- 
more since  the  outbreak  of  war.  It 
was  now  to  serve  as  our  home.  From 
here  we  could  always  keep  an  eye  on 
the  DeutscJiland. 

[139] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

On  the  other  side,  the  Deutschland 
was  surrounded  by  an  entire  system 
of  heavy  beams,  with  strong  nets, 
which  reached  to  the  bottom,  so  that 
it  would  have  been  impossible  for  even 
a  diver  to  approach  the  vessel.  In  ad- 
dition to  this,  there  were  several  boats 
which  mounted  guard  day  and  night, 
among  them  the  Timmins,  which  would 
keep  her  tireless  little  searchlight  play- 
ing over  the  entire  vicinity  all  night  long. 

Nevertheless,  there  were  several  de- 
lightful little  interludes.  In  order  that 
the  discharging  and  loading  of  the 
cargo  might  go  on  unobserved,  a  high 
fence  had  been  built  all  around  the 
shed.  This  rendered  it  impossible  to 
see  anything  of  the  ship  or  the  freight 
pier. 

The  only  opportunity  for  having  a 
look  at  the  wonder-boat,  and  that  at  a 

[140] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscldand 


considerable  distance,  was  offered  by 
a  pile-driver  which  lay  anchored  in  the 
stream.  This  was  soon  utilized  by  the 
newspaper  reporters  as  a  post  of  obser- 
vation. Here  they  began  to  make  their 
perch,  never  taking  their  eyes  from 
us.  They  did  regular  sentry  duty. 
Two  men  were  always  crouched  on  top 
of  the  swaying  framework  by  day  and 
by  night,  in  the  self-sacrificial  exer- 
cise of  their  profession. 

We,  too,  established  our  sentries.  At 
night,  when  the  watch  was  changed 
upon  the  pile-driver  across  the  way, 
the  searchlight  operator  aboard  the 
Timmins  would  amuse  himself  by  flash- 
ing his  light  in  that  direction,  courte- 
ously escorting  these  gentlemen  upon 
their  risky  climb.  As  they  clambered 
down  from  the  framework,  the  rays 
would   follow   and   outline   them,    one 

[141] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

after  the  other,  like  spiders  under  a 
]30cket  flash-lamp. 

Captain  Hinsch  had  simply  pro- 
vided for  everything,  from  our  recep- 
tion and  safe  conduct  to  our  housing 
and  provisioning  upon  the  Neckar. 

The  only  means  of  access  to  the 
Deutschland  was  by  way  of  this 
steamer — at  least  for  those  few  priv- 
ileged people  who  were  permitted  to 
view  the  vessel — if  only  from  without. 
Otherwise,  all  visits  to  the  boat  were 
strictly  forbidden.  Of  course,  we 
should  have  been  quite  happy  to  show 
off  this  child  of  our  pride  to  all  comers, 
but,  in  ^dew  of  the  danger  of  sabotage 
which  might  accrue  to  the  first  Ger- 
man submarine  freight  boat  from  an 
indiscriminate  public  inspection,  we 
were  forced  on  principle  to  adhere  to 
our  refusals,  and  so  hundreds  of  Amer- 

[142] 


©  T-.  I.  Z. 


Up  the  Wej- 

he  l)(  iilsi'lildii'l  i-ceeiviii"'  ovation 


^ 

^ 

\ 


TO  Bkemen 

ils  triiinipliaiil   n'tiini  1o  ({(^'iiiaiiy 


Voijage  of  the  Deutschland 

icans,  who  had  come  in  automobiles, 
sometimes  from  great  distances,  even 
from  Western  states,  in  order  to 
have  a  look  at  the  Deutschland,  were 
forced,  to  our  own  deep  regret,  to  go 
their  ways  without  achieving  their 
piu'pose. 

The  fihn  companies,  however,  were 
able  to  score  a  triumph.  I  fulfilled 
their  desire  to  immortalize  the  entire 
crew  upon  their  first  treading  Ameri- 
can soil.  And  so  I  iDermitted  myself 
and  my  men  to  be  taken  outside  in  a 
proud  group. 

My  first  trip  to  the  city  resembled 
a  triumphal  procession.  The  auto  was 
obliged  to  halt  every  moment,  and  I 
was  congratulated  upon  all  sides,  and 
everybody  wished  to  shake  my  hand. 
I  grew  to  be  a  sort  of  obstruction  to  traf- 
fic during  those  first  days  in  Baltimore. 

[143] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

Thus  I  slowly  made  my  way  to  the 
agency  of  the  North  German  Lloyd. 
This  was  surrounded  by  dense  masses 
of  people. 

It  was  first  necessary  to  make  the 
usual  declaration.  I  went  to  the  Cus- 
tom House  authorities  and  made  the 
necessary  visits.  I  was  greeted  every- 
where in  the  heartiest  manner. 

Then  I  went  back  to  the  Agency,  and 
summoned  uj)  my  entire  stock  of  sea- 
man's resolutions  in  order  to  devote  my- 
self to  the  press.  I  took  up  my  posi- 
tion behind  a  barrier,  that  is  to  say, 
behind  the  counter  of  the  Passenger 
Office  before  which  an  enormous  crowd 
was  pushing.  I  was  quite  alone,  and 
held  my  defences  against  hundreds — 
men  and  women,  each  of  whom  wanted 
to  know  something  different,  each  of 
whom  asked  me   questions,   from  the 

[144] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscUland 

most  insignificant  personalities  to  ques- 
tions of  tiigher  politics. 

One  lady  cried:  "Do,  Captain,  tell 
me,  what  is  it  like  in  a  submarine? 
.  .  . "  Another  asked,  full  of  sym- 
pathy: "Say,  is  it  true  that  in  Ger- 
many the  babies  are  starving  for  Avant 
of  milk?"  A  prosperous  looking  man 
proclaimed  his  interest  in  the  problems 
of  diet  by  demanding:  "Say,  Captain, 
what  did  you  live  on?" 

I  was  also  frequently  asked:  "What 
about  the  Kaiser's  message  you  brought 
over  for  Mr.  Wilson?"  I  was  as  little 
able  to  reply  to  this  question  as  to  that 
other,  so  frequently  put:  "When  do 
you  expect  to  leave  Baltimore  again?" 

And  I  was  supposed  to  answer  hun- 
dreds of  similar  questions  with  my  one 
poor  little  voice.  I  stood  there  like  a 
breakwater  and  the  floods  went  surg- 

*°  [  145  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

ing  about  me,  mounting  higher  and 
higher,  until  my  whole  spiritual  ego 
was  swallowed  up,  only  to  re-appear 
the  next  day  in  fragments  scattered 
throughout  the  press  of  two  hemi- 
spheres. 

My  body,  however,  somewhat  wearily 
obeyed  an  invitation  of  the  German 
club  where  our  arrival  was  celebrated 
in  exclusive  German  circles,  and  where 
we  spoke  with  love  and  pride  of  the 
battling  Fatherland. 


The  following  days  were  to  become 
one  continual  festival  for  us.  Only 
those  who  know  American  hospitality 
and  American  enthusiasm  can  form  an 
idea  of  the  hearty  reception  we  were 
given  everywhere.  People 's  heads  were 
quite  turned.     It  did  one  good  to  see 

[146] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

with  how  much  open  and  honest  sym- 
pathy our  voyage  and  safe  arrival 
were  regarded  by  the  Americans,  and 
how  this  sympathy  was  exj^ressed  with 
the  most  unrestrained  rapture. 

Wherever  we  went,  we  were  greeted 
in  the  most  fervent  fashion.  Our 
hands  were  shaken.  The  "Wacht  am 
Rhein"  was  sung  and  wildly  enthusi- 
astic ovations  were  given  us  every- 
where. It  simply  snowed  invitations 
upon  the  officers  and  crew.  Festivals 
and  parties  were  arranged  for  us,  and 
on  one  occasion,  when  two  of  my  of- 
ficers of  the  watch,  accompanied  by  a 
friend,  were  recognized  in  a  large  pub- 
lic resort,  the  concert  music  suddenly 
stopped,  the  limelight  was  thrown  upon 
these  gentlemen,  and  amidst  tremendous 
jubilation  the  band  played  ''America" 
and  the  ''Wacht  am  Rhein." 

[147] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

While  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  of  all  classes  and  conditions, 
were  thus  recording  their  unrestrained 
admiration  for  the  Deutschland,  the 
American  Government  had  also  taken 
up  an  official  position  in  regard  to 
the  question  whether  our  boat  was 
to  be  considered  a  merchant  vessel 
or  whether,  as  expressed  in  the  em- 
phatic protest  of  the  British  and 
French  Ambassadors,  it  was  to  be 
considered  in  the  nature  of  a  war 
vessel.  \ 

A  Government  Commission  of  three 
American  naval  officers  came  down 
from  Washington  on  July  12th.  They 
were  to  make  a  most  detailed  inspec- 
tion of  the  Deutschland.  Since  we  had 
absolutely  no  armament  of  any  nature, 
and  no  provisions  for  mounting  any  on 
board,  we  were  able  to  show  these  gen- 

[148] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

tlemen  everything  with  absolute  confi- 
dence. 

After  an  examination  of  three  hours, 
which  covered  every  nook  and  corner 
of  the  boat,  and  which  cost  the  par- 
ticipants much  perspiration  in  crawl- 
ing about  the  hot  and  glowing  steel 
hull,  the  Commission  confirmed  the 
23urely  mercantile  character  of  the  U- 
Deutschland.  These  gentlemen  were 
full  of  intense  admiration  for  the 
genius  shown  in  the  construction  of 
the  entire  boat,  and  were  particularly 
impressed  by  the  staggering  fact  of 
the  complicated  nature  of  the  entire 
mechanism. 

The  numerous  German- Americans  in 
Baltimore  organized  a  German  Festi- 
val in  honor  of  the  entire  crew  and  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Red  Cross.  This 
event  took  place  in  Cannstadter  Park, 

[l-t9] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutschland 

a  large  popular  resort  near  Baltimore. 
There  were  rifle-ranges,  booths  for 
raffles,  an  open-air  stage,  a  dancing 
pavilion  and  similar  amusements  in  the 
open.  I  must  say  that  our  men  showed 
off  well  at  these  affairs.  They  stood 
the  homage  which  was  given  them  in 
good  style  and  displayed  little  shyness. 
When  it  came  to  dancing,  they  swung 
a  leg  with  the  best  of  them.  I  saw  a 
couple  of  my  fine  fellows  dancing  with 
the  ladies  of  our  host's  family  as 
though  they  had  done  nothing  else  all 
their  lives.  / 

The  whole  constituted  for  us  legen- 
dary seafarers  one  single,  solid  ova- 
tion of  overpowering  kindliness.  Hun- 
dreds surroimded  us  and  toasted 
us  again  and  again,  and  clamored 
for  a  word  with  each  and  every  one 
of  us. 

[150] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


Of  course,  I  was  especially  singled 
out  for  tliese  attentions.  I  was  sup- 
posed to  shake  the  hand  of  all  the  par- 
ticipants at  this  festival — this  finally 
developed  into  a  universally  expressed 
desire. 

The  problem  was  not  an  easy  one  to 
solve.  With  considerable  embarrass- 
ment, I  looked  around  me  and  saw  the 
countless  hands  which  were  stretched 
toward  me,  and  gazed  upon  the  faces 
of  that  vast  crowd  of  gay  and  excited 
people  who  seethed  about  me. 

At  last  the  following  plan  was  de- 
vised. I  was  put  into  a  Committee 
automobile  and  the  crowd  Avas  made 
to  defile  before  me  between  Masters  of 
Ceremony  in  the  shape  of  policemen. 
I  was  thus  able  to  shake  the  hand  of 
everyone  who  went  by.  This  proces- 
sion lasted  over  an  hour  and  a  half, 

[151] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

during  which  time  I  shook  hands  with- 
out pausing. 

I  marvel  that  my  two  hands  are 
still  attached  to  my  arms. 

On  July  20th,  the  Deutschland  re- 
ceived a  visit  from  Count  Bernstorff, 
the  German  Ambassador,  who  had 
come  to  Baltimore  with  several  gentle- 
men from  the  summer  seat  of  the  Em- 
bass}^  We  showed  them  our  faithful 
boat,  whose  inspection  amidst  the  pro- 
cess of  loading  the  cargo  and  in  a  ter- 
rific heat  was  scarcely  an  unalloyed 
pleasure. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  an 
of&cial  dinner  was  given  by  the  Mayor 
of  Baltimore  in  honor  of  the  presence 
of  the  German  Ambassador.  This  had 
been  preceded  by  a  small  lunch  in  the 
select  precincts  of  the  Germania  club- 
house. The  dinner  given  by  the  Mayor, 

[  152  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Veutschland 

a  most  charming  gentleman,  was  of  an 
exclusively  political  nature,  and  was 
attended  only  by  politicians  and  official 
personages.  There  was  a  long  series 
of  excellent  courses  and  of  drinks,  and, 
according  to  American  custom,  the 
close  of  the  dinner  and  the  appearance 
of  innumerable  new  drinks  were  the 
occasion  for  a  number  of  speeches.  In 
these  the  arrival  of  the  Deutschland  in 
America,  the  significance  of  this  event 
to  the  city  of  Baltimore  and  for 
friendly  German-American  relations 
were  duly  celebrated. 

Then  the  city  band  came  into  the 
garden  and  jplayed  the  "Wacht  am 
Rhein"  and  the  American  National 
Hymn,  while  the  crossed  American  and 
German  flags  were  unfolded. 

This  was  a  very  pretty  sjTubol  of 
friendship  and  understanding  between 

[153] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

the  two  peoples,  both  of  whose  inter- 
ests are  bound  up  in  the  freedom  of 
the  seas. 


While  all  these  festivities  were  un- 
der way,  and  all  our  evenings  thus 
employed,  our  cargo  had  been  dis- 
charged and  the  stowing  away  of  the 
new  cargo  had  begun. 

This  is  quite  a  chapter  by  itself. 

Messrs.  Paul  G.  L.  and  H.  G.  Hilken, 
two  gentlemen  who  represent  the 
North  German  Lloyd  in  Baltimore, 
had  done  their  very  utmost  to  lighten 
this  most  delicate  part  of  our  task  and 
insure  its  success. 

They  had  not  only  provided  in  all 
secrecy  the  necessary  goods  which  were 
to  constitute  our  return  cargo,  but  they 
had  already  had  these  stored  in  the 
sheds  ready  for  loading.  It  was  a  most 

[  154  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

impressive-looking  pile  and,  on  view- 
ing it,  one  might  well  have  doubted 
whether  it  would  be  possible  to  stow 
it  all  within  the  limits  of  one  U-boat. 
Our  friends  had  also  seen  to  it  that 
the  special  stevedores  were  at  hand. 

The  entire  work  upon  the  boat  and 
on  the  freight  pier  was  carried  out  by 
negroes,  whose  slight  degree  of  educa- 
tion and  weak  powers  of  observation 
were  in  this  case  a  special  reconmien- 
dation.  In  addition  to  this,  the  ne- 
groes were  thoroughly  searched  every 
time  before  beginning  work,  being 
forced  to  strip — all  this  in  order  to 
protect  the  boat  from  any  premedi- 
tated outrage. 

The  discharging  of  the  cargo  was 
completed  without  any  difficulty. 

For  those  who  are  accustomed  to 
the  unloading  of   cargoes,   a   singular 

[155] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

picture  presented  itself.  Usually  there 
are  great  derricks,  steel  windlasses  and 
hydraulic  cranes,  and  the  heavy  goods 
and  cases  are  hoisted  up  out  of  the 
dark  ship's  hold  amidst  hubbub, 
thiunpings  and  hissings.  Stevedores 
and  foremen  stand  beside  yawning 
openings  and  shout  in  an  inarticulate 
speech.  Here,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
were  two  small  wooden  hoists  erected 
above  the  ordinary  hatches  of  the  U- 
boat,  and  these,  with  their  neat  little 
electric  windlasses,  did  swift  work. 
The  goods  came  rushing  up  into  the 
daylight  in  little  sacks  and  chests, 
rapidly  and  noiselessly,  almost  as  in 
a  doll's  theater.  There  was  something 
miniature  in  the  unloading  of  the  U- 
boat  in  this  manner. 

It  was  really  astonishing  to  observe 
the  quantity  of  goods  that  piled  them- 

[156] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

selves  up  on  the  pier,  all  of  which  had 
been  fetched  up  out  of  the  insignifi- 
cant-looking whale-back  through  the 
narrow  hatches. 

The  loading  of  the  vessel  was  much 
more  difficult.  Special  calculations  had 
to  be  made  for  this  by  our  submarine 
expert  and  *' Master  of  U-boat  car- 
goes," ship-architect  Pruss  of  the  Ger- 
mania  Yards.  Every  kilogram  or 
pound  of  the  cargo,  differing  so  greatly 
in  weight  and  bulk,  had  to  be  stowed 
away  in  some  carefully  calculated  po- 
sition, so  as  not  to  influence  unfavor- 
ably the  trimming  of  the  vessel. 

Careful  storage  was,  moreover,  of  the 
utmost  importance  as  the  space  avail- 
able is,  after  all,  more  or  less  limited, 
and  every  case  and  every  sack  must 
be  firmly  fixed  in  position.  Otherwise 
it  might   happen  that  the  most   dis- 

[157] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

agreeable  surprises  would  befall  ue 
during  a  storm,  a  sudden  dive  with  a 
strong  list,  or  other  incidents.  These 
might,  by  hindering  our  ability  to 
manoeuvre,  lead  to  disaster. 

A  loading  of  this  kind  is  therefore 
a  very  tedious  one.  The  entire  freight, 
sacks  and  boxes,  must  be  passed  into 
the  narrow  hatches  by  the  negroes,  af- 
ter being  weighed.  Piece  by  piece 
the  goods  are  placed  upon  the  scales, 
the  weights  noted  by  the  tally-meter 
and  then  called  out  and  checked  up  in 
special  lists. 

These  lists  or  tables  were  all  studied 
out  according  to  a  theoretical  plan.  The 
efficiency  of  this  plan  was  then  tested 
by  a  trial  dive  and  trimming  test.  There 
was  just  enough  depth  at  our  anchor- 
age for  us  to  carry  this  out. 

For  this  trial  dive  all  the  men  were 

[  158  ]i 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

ordered  to  tlieir  stations.  The  sub- 
mersion tanks  were  slo^Yly  opened  and 
the  boat  was  filled  with  just  enough 
water  to  cause  it  to  float  with  the 
hatch  of  the  turret  appearing  above 
the  surface. 

In  this  position,  the  body  of  the 
boat  was  made  to  oscillate  by  ballast- 
ing the  two  trinuning-tanks  in  different 
ways.  This  permitted  us  to  judge 
whether  the  burdens  in  the  boat  had 
been  properly  distributed.  In  case 
there  had  been  any  sliifting  of  the 
weights,  the  cargo  must  have  been 
stowed  anew.  A  final  dive  and  trim- 
ming test  was  then  necessary  in  order 
to  see  that  the  lading  of  the  boat  was 
correct  in  every  detail. 

Those  two  thousand  tons  in  their 
swaying  and  fluid  element  were  brought 
to  a  most  delicate  and  absolute  balance. 

[159] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscMand 


XI 

FAREWELL  TO  BALTIMORE 

I  SHOULD  like  to  set  a  motto  above 
this  description  of  our  return  trip. 
The  words  are  taken  from  the  London 
Morning  Post  of  July  18th,  and  refer 
to  the  attitude  assumed  by  the  British 
Government  with  regard  to  the 
DeutscJiland. 

*^The  DeutscMand,  in  consequence 
of  its  character  as  a  submarine,  is  to 
be  regarded  as  a  war  vessel  and  is  to 
be  treated  as  such.  The  warships  of 
the  Allies  will,  therefore,  seek  every 
opportunity  to  waylay  the  vessel  be- 
yond the  American  three-mile  limit  and 
will  sink  it  without  warning.'' 

[160] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscldand 

Thus  ran  a  cable  dispatch  wliich 
reached  America  from  London  on  July 
19th.  And  such  were  the  words  which 
we  read  for  ourselves  in  a  copy  of  the 
Morning  Post  which  was  sent  to  us 
toward  the  end  of  July. 

This  at  least  had  the  advantage  of 
letting  us  know  precisely  what  we  had 
to  expect. 

Never  had  the  English  point  of  view, 
in  all  its  brutality,  been  more  clearly 
displayed. 

We  had  no  torpedo-tubes  and  no  can- 
nons on  board.  We  had  not  the  slight- 
est possible  means  of  making  an  at- 
tack. We  did  not  even  carry  arms 
with  which  to  defend  ourselves,  some- 
thing which  is  permitted  to  every  Eng- 
lish merchant  vessel;  moreover,  the 
biggest  of  the  neutral  powers  had  ex- 
pressly recognized  us   as   a  merchant 

"  [  161  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

vessel,  and  yet  we  were  to  be  sunk 
without  warning! 

We  knew,  therefore,  what  lay  before 
us. 

It  had  also  become  known  that  eight 
enemy  war  vessels  with  lookout  boats 
and  nets  had  assembled  in  front  of 
Chesapeake  Bay  in  order  to  capture 
us  as  soon  as  we  left  the  American 
three-mile  limit  and  to  shatter  us  to 
pieces  with  mines  like  some  blind  fish. 

Caution  was,  therefore,  imperative — 
w^e  should  have  to  worm  our  way 
through  with  true  U-boat  craftiness. 

But  we  also  knew  how  to  get  the 
best  of  these  English  and  French  ef- 
forts as  we  had  done  once  before.  The 
penetration  of  the  English  blockade 
outward-bound  from  Europe  had  not 
been  precisely  a  walk-over. 

[162] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscUland 

Nothing  had  tickled  us  more  than  to 
read  the  brilliant  explanation  which 
had  been  launched  by  Cajotain  Gaunt 
of  the  British  General  Consulate  in 
New  York,  when  the  first  rumors  of 
the  voyage  of  a  German  U-boat  to 
America  had  cropped  up.  Captain 
Gaunt  is  the  naval  expert  at  the  Con- 
sulate, and  the  good  man  ought  to 
know.  He  pacified  the  English  pub- 
lic as  follows:  "It  is  impossible  to  send 
a  submarine  to  America.     Should  the  \ 

Germans,  nevertheless,  venture  to  try 
it  we  should  seize  it.  A  large  sub- 
marine leaves  a  trail  of  oil  and  ma- 
chine-grease on  the  water  behind  it. 
This  trail  can  be  followed  by  our  swift 
cruisers  and  it  is  a  dead  certainty  that 
they  will  capture  the  submarine." 

We  had,  therefore,  merely  to  see  to 
it  that  our  '^capture"  this  second  time 

[163] 


\ 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

would  prove  to  be  this  "dead  cer- 
tainty. ' ' 

The  first  of  August  had  arrived.  We 
had  taken  hearty  farewells  of  every- 
one. All  the  formalities  with  the  au- 
thorities had  been  settled  and  we  were 
free  to  put  out  to  sea  to  keep  our  dates 
with  the  gentlemen  that  prowled  about 
the  entrance  of  the  Bay. 

Our  departure  was  delayed,  as  we 
had  to  wait  for  high  water  in  order  to 
make  our  way  out  of  the  Patapsco 
River,  u|)on  which  Baltimore  is  situ- 
ated, over  the  intervening  mud-bank 
into  Chesapeake  Bay.  The  tide  rose 
very  slowly  on  this  day,  as  there  was 
a  north  wind  blowing,  which  was  in- 
clined to  keep  the  stream  from  reach- 
ing Baltimore  up  the  long,  narrow 
Bay. 

We  anxiously  awaited  the  rising  of 

[164] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutsc/iland 

the  water,  and  at  last,  at  3:20  in  the 
afternoon,  the  moment  had  arrived. 
The  lines  were  cast  off — slowly  the  en- 
closing sentinel  vessels  opened  out  and 
majestically  the  Deutscliland  pushed 
her  way  from  the  pier  into  the  channel. 
The  tug  Timmins  steamed  along  beside 
us  like  a  faithful  shepherd-dog  and 
seemed  to  growl  whenever  the  numer- 
ous small  and  large  boats  loaded  with 
reporters  and  film  operators  ap- 
proached too  closely. 

There  was  nothing  to  fear.  The 
boat  of  the  Baltimore  harbor-police  had 
been  kindly  assigned  to  accompany  us, 
and  a  Marvland  revenue  cutter  had 
received  orders  to  escort  us  to  the 
limits  of  its  territory. 

Hundreds  of  people  stood  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Patapsco  River.  They 
waved  to  us  and  saluted  our  departure 

[165] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

with  constant  cheers.  All  the  tugs  in 
the  harbor  set  up  a  howling  with  their 
sirens  and  their  whistles;  the  steamers 
dipped  their  flags  and  hooted;  it  was 
an  appalling  hubbub.  But  we  knew, 
as  we  went  on  and  outward,  that  in- 
numerable hearts  throughout  this  vast 
America  accompanied  us  with  their 
blessings  and  were  waiting  anxiously 
for  the  moment  which  would  bring  to 
them  the  certainty  of  our  successful 
escape. 

As  soon  as  we  reached  the  open 
waterway  and  set  the  engines  going  at 
full  speed,  our  escorts  gradually 
dropped  behind ;  even  the  Timmins  had 
all  it  could  do  to  keep  up.  We  re- 
marked the  slow  speed  of  the  Ameri- 
can boats ;  the  cheers  grew  weaker  and 
weaker,  the  boats  fewer  and  fewer,  and 
finally    only    the    revenue    cutter    re- 

[166] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

mained.  After  this  craft  had  van- 
ished, about  seven  o'clock,  we  should 
have  been  alone  with  the  Timmiyis  had 
there  not  been  another  mysterious  es- 
cort which  could  not  so  easily  be  shaken 
ofe. 

This  was  a  swift  gray  boat  with  a 
pointed  snout  and  a  flat,  short  stern, 
a  sort  of  overgro^vn  racing  boat,  of 
which  it  was  rumored  that  it  held  some 
eighty  horse-power  in  its  belly,  and 
could  set  up  a  pace  of  22  miles.  It 
was  supposed  to  have  been  hired  some 
ten  days  before  by  a  certain  gentleman, 
who  paid  the  round  simi  of  $200  per 
day,  from  which  it  was  to  be  seen 
how  highly  this  gentleman  estimated 
the  possibility  of  announcing  his  j^urely 
sporting  interest  by  a  match  between 
his  racer  and  the  Deiitschland. 

In    consciousness    of    its    superior 

[167] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

speed,  the  pretty  boat  went  pirouetting 
all  around  us.  It  described  most  ad- 
mirable circles  and  curves ;  it  cut  capri- 
oles, it  buzzed  about  us  like  a  blue- 
bottle and  its  high  sjDirits  were  really 
alarming.  The  good  old  Timmins 
might  growl  as  threateningly  as  you 
please  with  its  steam  siren  and  fling 
out  angry  clouds  of  smoke,  but  the 
eighty  horse-power  hummer  hung  on 
and  would  not  be  driven  off. 

We  proceeded  thus  until  nightfall. 

Then,  about  eight  o'clock,  a  slight 
breeze  began  to  blow  and  it  was  not 
long  before  a  low  swell  came  up — a 
merry  swell,  which  splashed  gaily 
against  the  bows  of  the  Deutschland. 

Our  blue-bottle  friend  had,  in  the 
meantime,  hung  out  his  lights,  quite 
according  to  regulations,  and  we  heard 
the  water  splashing  about  his  bows  as 

[168] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

well.  But  he  no  longer  raced  about 
us,  but  went  spattering  along  in  our 
wake.  It  was  a  jDretty  sight  to  see  his 
colored  lights  dancing  behind  us,  or 
disapi3earing  and  reappearing  amid 
the  illuminated  foam  and  the  spray — 
growing   ever   more   distant. 

At  ten  o'clock  there  was  a  pretty 
neat  little  sea  under  way.  The  lights 
had  dwindled  to  little  points  far  astern, 
and  as  the  gray  dsivm  came  up,  the  sea 
was  clear;  our  little  friend  had  evi- 
dently flown  back  home. 

However,  a  great  nmnber  of  fishing- 
trawlers  soon  came  looming  up  out  of 
the  gray  murk  so  that  we  were  some- 
what fearful  of  running  into  a  regular 
trap — even  here  amidst  these  neutral 
waters. 

But  loud  hurrahs  and  waving  of 
hands  from  these  vessels  soon  enlight- 

[169] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

ened  us.  It  was  a  company  of  Ameri- 
can press  representatives  who  had  not 
hesitated  to  make  this  nightly  trip, 
together  with  a  number  of  admirers 
and  friends  of  the  Deutschland, 
in  order  to  offer  final  greetings  to  our 
boat  some  fifty  miles  out  from  Balti- 
more. 

One  steamer  after  another  glided 
past  us,  and  by  six  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing we  were  travelling  in  such  free 
water  that  we  were  able  to  make  our 
first  diving-trial.  After  our  long  spell 
ashore,  I  wished  to  get  the  crew  and 
the  boat  once  more  well  in  hand — 
merely  on  account  of  that  '^dead  cer- 
tain" capture. 

So  we  underwent  our  first  diving 
trial  and  everything  went  without  a 
hitch.  The  Timmins  remained  in  the 
neighborhood.      Captain    Hinsch    told 

[170] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

me  later  that  it  was  a  startling  sight 
to  see  the  Deutschland  sink  away  so 
silently,  only  to  come  pushing  out  of 
the  water  a  few  moments  later  with  a 
foaming  wave  across  her  bows. 

So  the  dive  was  a  success.  In  order 
to  see  that  ever}i;hing  else  was  tight 
and  in  good  order,  I  gave  the  com- 
mand to  set  the  boat  upon  the  sea 
bottom  at  a  spot  which,  according  to 
the  reading  upon  the  chart,  had  a 
depth  of  some  30  meters. 

Once  again  everything  grew  silent. 
The  daylight  vanished,  the  well-known 
singing  and  boiling  noise  of  the  sub- 
merging vents  vibrated  about  us.  In 
my  turret  I  fixed  my  eyes  upon  the 
manometer.  Twenty  meters  were  re- 
corded, then  25.  The  water  ballast 
was  diminished — 30  meters  appeared 
and  I  waited  the  slight  bmnp  which 

[171] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

was  to  announce  the  arrival  of  the  boat 
at  the  bottom.  .  .  . 

Nothing  of  the  sort  happened. 

Instead  of  this  the  indicator  upon 
the  dial  pointed  to  32 — to  33 — to  35 
meters.  .  .  . 

I  knocked  against  the  glass  with  my 
iinger — correct — the  arrow  was  just 
pointing  toward  36. 

''Great  thunder!  what's  up?"  I 
cried,  and  reached  for  the  chart. 
Everything  tallied.  Thirty  meters 
were  indicated  at  this  spot  and  our 
reckoning  had  been  most  exact.   .    .    . 

And  we  continued  to  sink  deeper 
and  deeper. 

The  dial  was  now  announcing  40 
meters. 

This  was  a  bit  too  much  for  me.  I 
called  down  to  the  central  and  got 
back  the  comforting  answer  that  the 

[172] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

large  manometer  was   also   indicating 
a  depth  of  over  40  meters! 

The  two  manometers  agreed. 

This,  however,  did  not  prevent  the 
boat  from  continuing  to  sink. 

The  men  in  the  central  began  to 
look  at  one  another.  .    .    . 

Ugh!  it  gives  one  a  creepy  feeling 
to  go  slipx^ing  away  into  the  unknown 
amidst  this  infernal  singing  silence 
and  to  see  nothmg  but  the  climbing 
down  of  the  confounded  indicator  upon 
the  white-faced  dial.   .    .    . 

There  was  nothing  else  to  be  seen  in 
my  turret.  I  glanced  at  the  chart  and 
then  at  the  manometer  in  a  pretty  help- 
less fashion. 

In  the  meantime  the  boat  sank 
deeper;  45  meters  were  passed — the 
pointer  indicated  48  meters.  I  began 
to  think  the  depth  of  the  Chesapeake 

[173] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

Bay  must  have  some  limit;  we  surely 
could  not  be  heading  for  the  bottom- 
less pit?  Then — the  boat  halted  at  a 
depth  of  50  meters  without  the  slight- 
est shock. 

I  chmbed  down  into  the  central  and 
took  counsel  with  Klees  and  the  two 
officers  of  the  watch. 

There  could  be  only  one  explana- 
tion; we  must  have  sunk  into  a  hole 
which  had  not  been  marked  upon  the 
chart. 

Well,  that  did  not  matter  much  after 
all.  It  was  a  matter  of  indifference  to 
us  whether  we  ascended  from  a  depth 
of  30  meters  or  one  of  50. 

I  was  just  about  to  give  the  com- 
mand to  rise,  when  my  eye  fell  upon 
the  box  compass  which,  with  its  deli- 
cate tremblings  of  the  black  and  white 
dial,  had  always  been  accustomed  to 

[174] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutschland 

hang  so  cheerily  in  its  little  illumin- 
ated house.   .  ..    . 

I  started  back.  .  .  .  Donnertvetter! 
What  did  this  mean? 

The  dial  of  the  compass  had  become 
insane  and  was  turning  itself  like  mad 
upon  its  own  axis  without  pause!  .   .   . 

Things  were  beginning  to  look  un- 
comfortable. 

As  our  box-compass  was  about  the 
most  reliable  thing  you  could  have 
found  in  all  the  world,  and  as  the  bot- 
tom of  the  Chesapeake  Bay  at  a  depth 
of  50  meters  could  not  possibly  have 
begun  to  rotate  about  us,  there  was 
only  one  conclusion  to  be  arrived  at — 
a  most   disquieting  conclusion.    .    .    . 

We  were  cheerfully  turning  about 
in  a  circle  in  this  hole  of  ours — and 
onlv  the  devil  knew  whv. 

I  at  once  ordered  the  exhaust  pvunps 

[  1'75  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

to  begin  their  work.  They  took  up 
their  purring  song,  it  is  true — but  in 
a  lighter  key  and  with  an  empty  note. 
The  pumps  had  no  effect.  We  contin- 
ued to  stick  in  the  mud — ^we  did  not 
move  an  inch. 

This  seemed  to  be  the  last  straw, 
and  I  must  say  none  of  us  was  any 
too  cheerful  about  the  matter. 

In  the  meantime  we  had  sunk  still 
deeper — according  to  the  manometer. 
But  now  the  revolving  motion  ceased 
and  we  lay  perfectly  quiet. 

I  once  more  gave  the  command — 
most  energetically — to  rise  at  once. 

The  pumps  began  to  purr  again,  but 
once  more  they  ran  empty. 

So  that  was  no  good. 

We  should  have  to  proceed  with  quiet 
deliberation,  othermse  we  should  still 
be  in  the  same  spot  to-morrow. 


?  - 


o) 


Q 

l-H 

o 

"A 
O 


o 

w 


m 

to 

~.        Eh 

1        *^ 

S      '^ 

r       C 


@ 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

After  a  good  deal  of  working  about, 
Engineer  Klees  finally  succeeded  in 
making  the  pumps  act. 

Tliey  began  to  force  tlie  water  out 
of  the  tanks  with  a  deep,  hoarse  note. 
They  were  working!  Our  eyes  were 
fixed  as  if  fascinated  upon  the  index 
of  the  manometer.  Hurrah!  We  were 
getting  free,  we  were  mounting.  The 
indicator  pointed  to  49  meters.  .  .  . 
Then  once  more  I  thought  I  could 
hardly  believe  my  eyes.  What  the 
devil  was  u^  now?  .  .  .  The  mano- 
meter suddenly  announced  20  meters, 
then  it  went  back  to  49 — then  once 
more  sprang  uj)  to  20 — and  so  on  and 
so  on. 

Things  now  began  to  be  really  criti- 
cal. We  stared  at  one  another  and 
were  at  our  wits'  end.  We  no  longer 
knew  what  was  the  matter  with  the 


12 


[177] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

boat  and  everything  else — we  no  longer 
knew  at  what  depth  we  were  lying. 
Even  the  manometer  had  now  gone 
crazy ! 

In  order  fully  to  comprehend  what 
this  meant,  you  must  remember  that 
the  men  in  a  submerged  submarine 
know  nothing  and  see  nothing  except 
what  the  pointer  of  the  manometer 
tells  them.  This  is  the  only  thing  they 
can  depend  upon.  When  this  ceases 
to  function  properly,  you  can  only 
grope  about  in  uncertainty. 

Although  our  situation  had  become 
highly  precarious,  a  stony  calm  pre- 
vailed in  the  boat.  We  were  aware 
that  in  case  the  worst  happened,  we 
could  still  have  recourse  to  the  com- 
pressed air,  which  would  have  flung 
us  toward  the  surface,  even  though 
the  pmnps  did  not  work. 

[178] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


But  this  measure  was  not  necessary. 
Klees  had  been  thinlving  deeply.  Then 
he  darted  for  a  lever.  There  was  a 
rush  and  a  roar  of  compressed  air. 
The  manometer  made  a  wild  kick 
toward  120  meters,  and  then  whirled 
back  to  49 — and  the  plug  of  mud  which 
had  stopped  up  the  opening  of  the  man- 
ometer from  without  was  instantly 
blown  away  with  a  whiff  of  compressed 
air. 

We  also  cleared  all  the  exhaust  pipes 
outside  through  the  application  of  com- 
pressed air.  They  had  become  clogged 
with  slime,  which  had  been  stirred  up 
by  oiir  dizzy  dance.  Then  the  exhaust 
pumps  began  to  drone  in  their  good 
old  fashion  and  obediently  the  Deutsch- 
land went  soaring  toward  the  surface. 

We  had  lain  along  the  bottom  over 
an  Hour  and  a  half. 

[179] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


Captain  Hinsch  came  alongside  in  the 
Timmins.  He  was  vastly  relieved.  He 
had  been  unable  to  account  for  our  long 
submersion,  and  had  been  greatly 
troubled  about  us.  We  must  have  blun- 
dered into  a  kind  of  pit,  in  which  the 
sand  *' ground,"  as  in  a  mill,  and  into 
which  we  had  gradually  burrowed 
through  the  circular  movements  which 
had  stirred  up  the  slime  and  the  mud. 
I  now  stationed  the  Timmins  at  two 
miles  distance,  so  that  she  might  ob- 
serve one  final  and  important  trial  dive. 

I  desired  to  rise  to  the  surface  with- 
out moving  forward,  so  that  only  the 
periscope  would  appear  above  the  sur- 
face. This  is  not  so  easy  as  it  sounds. 
When  the  submarine  ascends  under 
power  with  the  aid  of  the  diving  rud- 
ders, it  is,  of  course,  much  easier  to 
assume  a  certain  position,  but  in  this 

[180] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

case  the  periscopes  draw  a  small  wake 
of  foam  along  the  surface  and  this, 
under  certain  circumstances,  might 
prove  most  treacherous. 

We  therefore  made  the  attempt  to 
rise  from  a  greater  depth  by  means  of 
balancing  and  b}^  exhausting  and  refill- 
ing the  tanks,  in  order  to  float  in  such 
a  position  as  merely  to  show  our  peri- 
scopes above  water  and  absolutely  ver- 
tical. 

The  attempt  was  successful.  We 
managed  to  protude  our  ]3eriscope 
feelers  without  attracting  the  notice 
of  the  Timmins  Avhich  knew,  of  course, 
about  where  we  were  lying.  It  was 
only  after  the  turret  had  emerged  that 
she  saw  us. 

I  now  had  the  certainty  that  we 
were  prepared  for  all  eventualities  and 
might  attempt  to  break  through  with- 

[181] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

out  being  observed.  So  we  proceeded 
quietly  upon  our  course,  accompanied 
by  the  Timmins.  Just  before  the  com- 
ing of  dusk,  we  reached  the  opening 
between  the  two  capes. 


1 182  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deiitschland 


XII 

BREAKING  THROUGH 

The  night  had  already  come  as  we 
approached  the  dangerous  region.  In 
front  of  us  sparkled  the  fixed  beacon 
on  Cape  Henry,  while  upon  our  port 
Cape  Charles  sent  its  lightnings 
through  the  darkness  at  brief  inter- 
vals. At  the  apex  of  this  triangle,  we 
proceeded  quietly  toward  the  momen- 
tous division. 

Suddenly  two  searchlights  upon  our 
starboard  flashed  across  the  water.  The 
infernal  beams  of  light  ran  madly, 
searching  across  the  dark  floods.  Me- 
chanicallv  I  counted  a  few  seconds. 
Then  the  core  of  the  light  pierced  full 
into  my  eyes.  .  .  . 

[183] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

There  was  no  longer  time  to  dive, 
and  tlie  betraying  glare  remained  fixed 
upon  the  Deutschland. 

We  two  men  upon  the  turret  looked 
at  each  other  for  a  moment.  In  this 
beautiful  free  illumination  our  ex- 
pressions were  quite  visible. 

Then  we  saw  the  two  beams  of  the 
searchlight,  after  they  had  ascertained 
our  i^resence,  sweep  twice  toward  the 
zenith  and  suddenly  go  out.  After  we 
had  once  more  accustomed  our  eyes  to 
the  darkness,  we  discovered  two  dark 
craft  upon  our  starboard.  They  looked 
like  fishing  trawlers. 

"The  damned  villains!"  I  heard 
Krapohl  murmur  at  my  side.  *'They 
have  betrayed  us!" 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  he  was  right. 

For  the  shaft  of  a  mighty  search- 
light now  rose  vertically  into  the  air, 

[184] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


obviously  as  a  signal  for  the  English 
cruisers  waiting  outside. 

I  knew  that  it  was  now  or  never. 

I  gave  the  command:  "Clear  ship 
for  diving!     Submerge  to  18  meters." 

We  at  once  took  our  course  toward 
the  south. 

After  half  an  hour  we  emerged 
again,  as  I  wished  once  more  to  get 
my  exact  bearings.  Wr  scarcely  had 
time,  however,  to  cast  a  look  around, 
before  we  were  forced  to  evade  a 
threatening  danger  by  a  rapid  dive. 
For  hardly  two  hundred  yards  across 
our  bows,  we  saw  the  patroling  Ameri- 
can armored  cruiser  come  rushing  on. 

The  cruiser  had  also  seen  these  con- 
spicuous light  signals  and  had  come  to 
keep  an  eye  on  proceedings  along  the 
American  three-mile  limit.  According 
to  the  newspaper  reports,  this  armored 

[185] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


cruiser  had  aeroplanes  aboard  and  had 
been  ordered  to  carry  out  certain  naval 
exercises  in  Chesapeake  Bay.  I  am 
nevertheless  inclined  to  the  opinion 
that  the  American  Government  had  or- 
dered the  vessel  to  patrol  the  three- 
mile  limit  in  order  to  observe  what 
happened  when  we  made  for  the  sea. 
I  am  also  personally  firmly  convinced 
that  the  splendid  spirit  which  pre- 
vails among  the  officers  and  crew  of 
the  American  Navy  would  have  re- 
sulted in  this  cruiser  taking  energetic 
action  against  any  violation  of  the  in- 
ternational limits,  and  not  contented 
itself  with  mere  observation. 

That  such  a  violation  was  not  by  any 
means  impossible,  and  that  it  was  pre- 
vented upon  this  memorable  night 
merely  by  the  resolute  attitude  of  this 
American  warship,  appears  the  more 

[186] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

probable  from  the  following  circum- 
stance: Some  days  before  our  depart- 
ure, an  English  cruiser  had  passed 
Cape  Henry  at  night  during  a  fog,  had 
gone  searching  about  the  whole  of 
Chesapeake  Bay  in  the  most  shameless 
manner,  and  then,  without  disclosing 
its  identity,  had  steamed  away. 

In  the  meantime,  we  had  forced  our 
boat  into  the  depths  with  a  great  list 
forward.  We  rose  to  the  surface  only 
after  the  rumble  of  the  screws  of  the 
American  vessel  had  died  away  in  the 
distance. 

We  knew  that  the  most  dangerous 
moment  of  our  entire  voyage  was  now 
approaching.  We  once  more  marked 
our  exact  position,  and  then  proceeded 
to  make  all  the  preparations  necessary 
for  our  breaking  through. 

Then  we  dived  and  drove  fonvard. 

[187] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

All  our  senses  were  keyed  to  the  "ut- 
most, our  nerves  taut  to  the  breaking- 
point  with  that  cold  excitement  which 
sends  quivers  through  one's  soul,  the 
while  outwardl}^  one  remains  quite  se- 
rene, governed  by  that  clear  and  icy 
deliberation  which  is  apt  to  possess  a 
man  who  is  fully  conscious  of  the  un- 
known perils  toward  which  he  goes.  .  . . 

We  knew  our  path.  We  had  already 
been  informed  that  fishermen  had  been 
hired  to  spread  their  nets  along  cer- 
tain stretches  of  the  three-mile  limit; 
nets  in  which  we  were  supposed  to  en- 
tangle ourselves ;  nets  into  which  devil- 
ish mines  had  very  likely  been 
woven.  .  .  . 

Possibly  these  nets  were  merely  at- 
tached to  buoys  which  we  were  then 
supposed  to  drag  along  after  us,  thus 
betrajdng  our  position.  .  .  . 

[188] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

We  were  prepared  for  all  emergen- 
cies, so  that  in  case  of  extreme 
necessity  we  should  be  able  to  free 
ourselves  of  the  nets.  But  all  went 
well. 

It  was  a  dark  night.  Quietly  and 
peacefully  the  lighthouses  upon  the 
two  capes  sent  forth  their  light,  the 
while  a  few  miles  further  out  death  lay 
lowering  for  us  in  every  imaginable 
form. 

But  while  the  English  ships  were 
racing  up  and  down,  jerking  their 
searchlights  across  the  waters  and 
searcliing  again  and  again  in  every  im- 
aginable spot,  they  little  surmised  that, 
at  times  within  the  radius  of  their  own 
shadows,  a  periscope  pursued  its  silent 
way,  and  under  this  periscope — the 
U-Deufschland. 

That  night  at  twelve  o'clock,  after 

[189] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

hours  of  indescribable  tension,  I  gave 
the  command  to  rise. 

We  Had  Broken  Through! 

Slowly  the  Deutschland  rose  to  the 
surface,  the  tanks  were  blown  out  and 
the  Diesel  engines  flung  into  their 
gearing.  At  our  highest  speed  we 
now  went  rushing  toward  the  free 
Atlantic.  Behind  us  to  the  northwest 
the  Britishers  were  still  searching  the 
waters  with  whole  sheaves  of  search- 
lights. I  dare  say  they  must  have  got 
very  nervous  toward  the  end. 


[190] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


XIII 

HOMEWARD  BOUND 

[Revee  before  had  tlie  Deutschland 
traveled  at  such  speed  as  during  those 
early  morning  hours  of  the  3rd  of 
xlugust.  She  swept  onward  in  a  won- 
derful way,  flinging  up  a  broad  strip 
of  foam  to  either  side.  The  engines 
chanted  in  most  beautiful  hamiony; 
the  combustion  was  perfect  and  there 
was  not  the  slightest  vajDor  visible  at 
the  exhausts,  so  that  even  Mr.  Kissling 
himself  was  highty  satisfied,  and  al- 
most went  so  far  in  an  access  of  uncon- 
scious tenderness  as  to  stroke  the  rods 
of  his  beloved  motors. 

When  the  sun  rose,  the  coast  had 
long  since  vanished  in  the  gray  mist, 

[191] 


Voyage  of  the  JDeutscliland 

and  there  was  not  a  single  craft  visible. 
We  remained  on  the  surface  and  went 
rushing  on  like  the  very  devil!  Ah! 
for  how  much  we  have  to  thank  our 
engines.  "When  we  reached  Baltim^ore, 
after  our  long  arduous  trip  they  were 
still  in  the  best  of  condition.  Not  a 
single  repair  was  necessary  and  we 
might  have  started  on  the  return  trip 
at  once  without  overhauling.  Nor  must 
it  be  forgotten  that  our  engines  were 
forced  to  work  under  the  most  extraor- 
dinary conditions,  conditions  such  as 
those  resulting  from  the  dreadful  tem- 
perature in  the  Gulf  Stream  which 
made  the  most  unexpected  demands 
upon  the  entire  7nateriel.  It  may  be 
cahnlv  asserted  that  never  before  have 
oil  motors  had  to  undergo  a  working 
test  under  an  outer  temperature  of 
53°  Celsius.     These  things,  of  course, 

[192] 


©  Int.  Tress  Exchange 

Captain  Konig  and  Dk.  Alfked  Lohmaxx,  Presi- 
dent OF  THE  (jEKMAN  OcEAN  NAVIGATION  Co., 

Leavix(;  Recei'Tion  Given  Captain 
IviixiG  in  Bremen 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


could  not  be  foreseen  when  our  spe- 
cial type  of  engine  was  built,  and  that 
they  never  once  went  on  strike,  nor 
developed  the  slightest  engine  trou- 
ble, constitutes  the  most  perfect  proof 
of  their  magnificent  construction  and 
material. 

So  we  went  plunging  along,  and  all 
too  soon  we  once  more  found  ourselves 
in  the  hot,  humid  atmosphere  and  turbid 
air  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  We  were  once 
more  In  the  thick  of  its  beautiful  char- 
acteristics and  the  accompanying  phe- 
nomena. We  were  once  more  treated  to 
sultry  dampness  and  electrically  laden 
air,  to  an  excited  sea,  to  battened-down 
hatches  and  infernal  heat.  And  the  old 
Stream  did  not  even  consent  to  shove 
us,  as  we  certainly  had  the  right  to 
expect. 

But  all  these  hardships  we  bore  with 

^  [  193  ] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 


a  cheerful  spirit,  for  tlie  danger-zone 
lay  beliind  us  and  we  were  homeward 
bound.  The  high  seas  also  dwindled 
away  the  closer  we  approached  the  lim- 
its of  the  Gulf  Stream. 

On  the  evening  of  the  second  day 
it  already  became  possible  to  open  all 
the  hatches  on  the  deck,  but  we  had 
hardly  begun  to  enjoy  the  fresh,  pure 
air  which  was  to  make  our  stay  beneath 
decks  endurable,  than  there  came  the 
sudden  command:  *^ Cover  hatches  and 
dive!" 

A  steamer  had  come  up  and  had  ap- 
proached us  so  closely  and  along  the 
lines  of  our  own  course  that  we  were 
no  longer  able  to  evade  it  above  water. 

When  we  climbed  to  the  surface  an 
hour  later,  the  night  had  come,  and  we 
experienced  a  most  marvellous  natural 
phenomena,     a     sea-illumination     of 

[194] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

daemonian  unreality.  We  had  gone 
down  into  the  depths  during  a  quiet 
sea  and  in  dark  water,  but  on  rising 
we  emerged  in  a  sea  of  flame.  A  phos- 
phorescent glow  now  possessed  the  sea, 
of  an  intensity  and  radiance  such  as 
I  had  never  before  experienced  in  all 
my  life;  and  such  as  is  possible  only 
upon  the  outer  confines  of  the  Gulf 
Stream. 

"When  we  were  still  some  four  yards 
under  the  surface,  during  our  ascent, 
it  seemed  as  if  we  were  working  up 
through  an  incandescent  medium  of 
luminous  transparency.  Shortly  be- 
fore the  turret  emerged  from  the  water, 
I  had  cast  a  glance  aft,  and  seen  the 
entire  bod}^  of  the  ship,  from  the  stern 
on,  slipping  like  a  great  dark  shuttle 
through  this  flaming  element.  The 
screws   cast   vip   whirlpools   of   flame, 

[195] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutschland 

and  the  entire  movement  of  tiie  vessel 
roused  the  surrounding  waters  to  a 
still  fiercer  phosphorescence,  an  intens- 
ive flaming-up  and  a  darting  of  sparks 
and  strips  of  fire. 

A  fresh  breeze  had  set  in.  It  flung 
the  ecstatic  waters  in  luminous  sphe- 
roids, and  a  coruscating  rain  across  the 
entire  deck.  Wherever  the  eye  rested 
upon  the  surface  of  the  sea  it  saw 
nothing  but  a  tossing  world  of  lambent 
waves,  through  which  our  vessel 
ploughed  a  fiery  furrow. 

We  stood  as  if  under  the  ban  of 
wizardry.  The  magic  splendor  of  the 
vision  increased  as  the  wind  and  the 
sea  grew  stronger. 

All  the  men  not  on  duty  came  up 
and  stared  at  the  fairy  spectacle, 
taking  no  notice  of  the  seas  which 
already  had  begim  to  sweep  over  the 

1 196  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

deck.  Many  of  them  were  soaked  to 
the  skin. 

"Eire  it  may  be,  but  it  puts  out  a 
man's  pipe,"  remarked  our  gigantic 
boatswain,  Humke.  A  spurt  of  brine 
had  extinguished  his  pipe  for  the  third 
time,  so  that  he  now  determined  to  pro- 
tect his  beloved  cutty  by  stowing  it  in 
his  pocket. 

The  *'fire"  grew  wetter  and  wetter, 
and  in  another  half  hour  only  the 
officer  of  the  watch  and  the  lookout 
remained  on  the  turret. 

After  we  had  left  the  Gulf  Stream, 
we  encountered  a  stiff  northwester 
and  a  heavy  sea  until  we  once  more 
ran  into  fair  weather.  On  one  of 
these  evenings.  First  Officer  Krapohl 
was  standing  watch  with  Humke  upon 
the  turret,  and  ceaselessly  sweeping 
the  horizon  with  the  glass.    The  paling 

[197] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


heavens  had  already  merged  into  the 
dusky  reaches  of  the  sea. 

"Light  ahead!"  Hmnl^e  suddenly 
announced. 

"I've  already  seen  that  star  myself," 
remarked  the  officer  quietly,  letting  the 
glass  sink. 

"Well,  I  dunno,  Herr  Krapohl,  but 
that  ain't  no  star,"  replied  our  good 
sailorman. 

The  two  thereupon  reported  to  me, 
and  I  ascended  the  turret,  full  of  ex- 
pectation. I  took  the  glass,  looked, 
and  then  laughed. 

"Humke,  you  are  mistaken." 

For,  fairly  high  above  the  horizon, 
I  saw  a  faint,  white  light  which, 
had  it  belonged  to  a  ship,  would 
already  have  stood  too  high  above  the 
sea-level,  judging  by  its  degree  of 
luminosity. 

[198] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

Our  boatswain,  however,  insisted 
upon  his  own  oi)inion. 

"Beggin'  your  pardon,  Cap'n,  it 
ain't  a  star." 

I  handed  the  glass  to  Humke,  but 
he  at  once  put  it  down  again,  and  re- 
marked : 

^'A  man  can't  see  well  with  them 
there  things." 

He  then  contracted  his  brows,  sent 
another  piercing  glance  toward  the 
light,  and  said,  with  deep  conviction: 

*'A11  the  same,  it  ain't  a  star,  it's  a 
light." 

We  kept  the  thing  under  very  sharp 
observation.  At  length  I  began  to  see 
through  the  glass  a  red  glow  growing 
visible  beside  the  white  light.  We  now 
knew  that  a  steamer  was  coming 
toward  us. 

I  at  first  took  it  to  be  a  small  ves- 

[199] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

sel,  the  more  so  as  at  first  the  height 
of  the  two  lights  was  not  greatly  dif- 
ferentiated— that  is  to  say,  the  red 
portlight  of  the  steamer  was  hung  not 
very  far  below  the  white  light.  Soon 
after,  however,  I  was  surprised  to  see 
how  quickly  the  red  light  ranged  out- 
ward, or  rather  how  quickly  the  inter- 
val of  space  between  the  two  lights 
appeared  to  increase. 

There  was  only  one  conclusion  pos- 
sible— the  vessel  was  approaching  us 
at  a  most  extraordinary  speed. 

While  I  was  still  deliberating  over 
this  point,  and  already  thinking  of  a 
swift  destroyer,  I  discovered,  at  a  com- 
paratively great  distance,  behind  the 
two  lights,  something  that  looked  like 
a  white,  moving  glow,  or  a  feebly  illu- 
minated wave. 

We  were  unable  to  make  out  what 

[200] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

this  might  mean.  It  was  obvious  that 
this  wave  must  belong  to  the  lights, 
for  it  came  on  at  the  same  speed.  And 
we  were  right,  for  it  did  not  take  long 
before  w^e  saw  trembling  in  the  glass 
like  some  dim  foreboding  the  gigantic 
outlines  of  a  huge  steamer,  which,  with 
mighty  upper  works,  came  rushing 
on  through  the  darkness.  The  white 
glow  was  merely  its  wake  which,  true 
to  the  colossal  proportions  of  the 
ship,  became  visible  only  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  ship's  lan- 
terns. 

We  kept  staring  for  a  few  moments 
longer  and  discovered  four  towering 
smoke-stacks.  We  were  now  certain 
that  this  was  a  large  Cunarder,  which 
was  roaring  along  with  masked  lights, 
merely  carrying  a  top-light  and  the 
side-lights. 

[201] 


ii- 
ii 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

It  was  really  a  most  spectral  appa- 
rition. The  dark  and  powerful  vessel 
went  chasing  on  through  the  night,  and 
it  was  not  necessary  to  be  particu- 
larly romantic  in  order  to  think  of 
the  Flying  Dutchman.  Our  good 
Humke  expressed  his  feelings  in  the 
words : 

'My,  what  a  buster!" 
Full  speed  ahead  and  rudder  hard 
to  starboard." 

We  thus  left  the  course  of  the  proud 
Cunarder.  All  the  men  of  the  off-watch 
came  up  on  deck  in  order  to  have  a 
peep  at  the  spectacle. 

In  spite  of  the  most  vigilant  look- 
out, we  saw  absolutely  nothing  during 
the  next  few  days.  The  weather  like- 
wise remained  fair,  and  so  our  return 
home,  even  more  than  our  outward 
voyage,  began  to  assume  the  character 

[  202  ] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

of  a  peaceful,  uneventful  mercantile 
voyage. 

We  now  seemed  for  the  first  time  to 
be  able  to  enjoy  the  convenient  and 
practical  inner  arrangement  of  the 
boat,  the  cabins,  and  our  cheerful  little 
mess-room.  How  often,  as  we  sat  about 
the  table  in  the  mess-room  and  set  the 
gramophone  going,  did  we  feel  a  sud- 
den gratitude  toward  the  men  who  had 
not  only  given  the  ship  her  seaworthy 
form,  but  also  devised  all  the  many 
little  conveniences  which  permitted  us 
to  lead  a  quite  tolerable  life  even  be- 
low the  levels  of  the  sea. 

When  our  worthy  and  flaxen-haired 
steward,  Stucke,  always  with  the  same 
solemn  expression  upon  his  honest 
face,  alwa3^s  looking  a  little  astonished, 
would  iDlace  a  bottle  of  Californian 
claret  before  us,  while  we  were  lying 

[203] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

** somewhere"  along  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  with  a  vigorous  Channel  wind 
blowing  many  meters  over  our  heads — 
strange  thoughts  were  ours.  It  re- 
quired no  particular  fantasy  to  imag- 
ine ourselves  the  successors  of  Captain 
Nemo,  who,  in  an  extremely  modern 
Nautilus  were  able  to  descend  to  all 
depths  and  to  deliver  a  stinging  blow 
against  the  injustice  and  rank  arro- 
gance of  a  certain  people — provided, 
of  course,  that  one  had  read  Jules 
Verne. 

For  I  must  at  last  make  a  confes- 
sion, something  which,  up  to  now,  1 
had  kept  locked  as  a  fearful  secret  in 
my  breast.  It  w^as  only  as  the  com- 
mander of  a  submarine  merchant  ves- 
sel, upon  my  return  from  America, 
that  I  was  able  to  make  good  a  serious 
deficiency  in  my  education.  That  which 

[204] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

I  had  neglected  in  my  youth  I  was 
able  to  take  up  only  now  at  the  age  of 
49  years.  For  the  first  time,  in  the 
hull  of  the  TJ -Deutschland  it  was  de- 
creed that  I  make  myself  acquainted 
with  Jules  Verne. 

It  was  due  to  the  courtesy  and  at- 
tentiyeness  of  an  American  friend  that 
I  had  at  Baltimore  become  the  recip- 
ient of  a  book;  a  book — how  shall  I 
express  myself? — intended  as  a  spur 
to  incentive,  to  emulation.  The  book 
bore  the  title: 

*' Twenty  Thousand  Leagues  Under 
the  Sea.    For  Young  People." 

I  read  it  with  interest. 


The  other  events  that  transpired 
upon  our  homeward  voyage  are  soon 
told.  We  proceeded  calmly  and  peace- 
fully upon  our  way.    We  evaded  sev- 

[205] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

eral  steamers  at  a  greater  distance,  by 
making  a  detour  upon  the  surface, 
wMcli  gradually  made  us  experts  in 
this  matter.  The  weather  was,  for  the 
most  part,  good.  Once  there  was  fog 
and  a  smooth  sea. 

One  afternoon,  as  I  sat  at  the  desk 
in  my  cabin  in  order  to  work,  I  heard 
from  the  neighboring  central  a  com- 
mand given  by  the  helmsman.  It  was 
''Starboard,  20,"  and  was  repeated. 
Immediately  afterwards  came  the  com- 
mand: ''Port,  10,"  which  induced  me 
to  hurry  on  deck  before  I  received  the 
report  of  the  officer  on  watch. 

Here  a  singular  spectacle  presented 
itself.  Every^vhere,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  the  sea  was  covered  with 
a  field  of  black  oil-barrels,  through 
which  we  were  forced  to  worm  our 
way. 

[  206  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


The  first  glimpse  of  these  black  and 
eerie  things,  bobbing  up  and  down  upon 
the  waves,  made  one  think  of  a  mine- 
field, but  the  characteristic  form  of  the 
barrels  and  their  contents,  which  had 
partly  distributed  itself  over  the  water, 
gave  ample  testimony  of  their  harmless- 
ness.  We  were,  nevertheless,  obliged 
to  exercise  considerable  caution  in 
steering  through  this  remarkable  plan- 
tation, but  the  field  was  too  vast 
for  us  to  avoid  without  a  consider- 
able loss  of  time.  The  niunber  of 
barrels  which  came  within  the  circle 
of  our  vision  we  estimated  as  at  least 
1,000. 

*'This  is  fine  practice,"  exclaimed 
Krapohl,  "for  the  elegant  movements 
we  shall  be  obliged  to  make  later,  when 
we  go  snaking  our  way  through  the 
English  mine-fields.    I  think  we  might 

[207] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


risk  the  return  passage  through  the 
English  Channel." 

So  we  went  zigzagging  on  at  half 
speed  to  port,  then  to  starboard,  then 
to  port,  for  over  an  hour.  We  also  saw 
wrack  from  a  ship,  so  that  we  assumed 
that  some  steamer  had  met  with  a  dis- 
aster or  been  blown  up. 

We  now  approached  once  more  the 
sphere  of  the  English  patrol-boats. 
The  lookouts  were  doubled  and  all 
hands  stood  at  the  diving-stations. 
Now  and  again  we  saw  vessels  whose 
vigilance  we  escaped  by  diving  or  a 
change  of  course.  One  war  vessel,  ap- 
parently a  small  English  cruiser,  we 
cheated  out  of  the  possibility  of  even 
seeing  us  by  a  swift  dive.  After  pro- 
ceeding under  water  for  an  hour,  we 
once  more  rose  toward  the  surface, 
only  to  have  the  periscope  reveal  to  us 

[208] 


©  I..  I.  7. 

("i:M:r.i;  \ii(i\  at  Titv  Hall.  Uhk.mkx. 
AcGUST  25,  1916 

Tile  criiwil  in  I'mnl   iiuiiilicri-il  many  thousands.     Tlic  fiU'ni  is  ami  rrew 
on  riic  liahony.  acknowledging  cheers 


©  I..  1. '/.. 


Portrait  op  Officer^;  and  Crew  of  the 
"Deutschland" 

'r;il<('n  (in  thrir  niTival.  at  the  mouth  of  the  Weser. 
Augrust  23.  Iflir, 


Voyage  of  the  Deiitsc/dund 

while-  still  at  a  deiDtli  of  11  meters 
another  English  ship.  We  at  once 
sanli  to  20  meters,  and  this  game  of 
hide  and  seek  was  repeated  three  times 
in  succession. 

Toward  noon  we  clunbed  to  the  top 
for  good,  blew  out  the  tanks  and  forged 
ahead  at  full  sj)eed. 

Favored  by  good  weather,  we  rap- 
idly approached  our  goal.  On  an 
evening  in  August,  about  8  o'clock, 
we  saw  a  whole  circle  of  white  lights 
surrounding  the  entire  horizon. 

I  naturally  began  to  fear  that  we 
were  surrounded.  When  we  turned  to 
starboard,  we  saw  these  infernal  lights. 
When  we  turned  to  iDort,  they  also 
poiDped  up  there. 

However,  our  good  Zeiss  glasses 
soon  relieved  us  of  the  anxiety  of  fall- 
ing into  a  trap  at  the   last  moment, 

"  [  209  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

almost  in  view  of  liome.  The  twilight 
was  still  sufficiently  clear  to  enable  us 
to  see  by  the  outlines  of  these  sinister 
vessels  that  they  were  in  reality  noth- 
ing more  deadly  than  Dutch  herring 
loggers. 


[210] 


Voyage  of  the  Deidsclilancl 


XIV 

HOME  AGAIN 

A  FAVORABLE  following  Tvind  drove 
along  with  us  toward  home.  About 
six  o'clock  one  August  morning,  there 
was  once  more  an  alarm.  In  the  far- 
off  distance,  something  had  popped  up, 
something  which  looked  like  a  boat's 
sail  of  a  most  remarkable  form.  On 
approaching  closer,  this  sail  revealed 
itself  as  the  turret  of  a  U-boat,  which, 
with  flooded  decks,  was  churning  along 
its  way. 

Although  we  were  at  first  inclined 
to  make  various  edifying  and  instruc- 
tive remarks  with  regard  to  this  pe- 
culiar image  which  presented  itself  to 
us  from  the  distance,  and  to  expatiate 

[211] 


Voyage  of  the  Detdscliland 

upon  OTir  own  appearance  at  three 
nautical  miles,  there  was  nevertheless 
something  else  of  far  greater  moment 
for  us  to  consider.  The  question  for 
us  was — was  this  an  English  or  a  Ger- 
man submarine? 

We  preferred,  however,  in  order  to 
make  sure  of  all  eventualities,  to  show 
as  little  of  ourselves  as  possible,  and 
to  scuttle  away  beneath  at  the  last 
moment. 

We  had  already  flooded  all  tanks 
except  No.  3,  and  the  seas  were 
flinging  across  the  decks  and  splashing 
against  the  turret,  and  the  turret  itself 
was  already  cutting  into  the  green 
waters,  when  a  well-known  signal  was 
hoisted  bv  the  submarine  and  we  were 
reassured  of  its  being  German.  We  at 
once  sent  our  answer. 

And  then  the  conunand  rang  out: 

[  212  ] 


Yotjage  of  the  Deutschland 

"Exliaust  with  air  blast!" 

I  had  never  given  an  order  upon  the 
Deutschland  with  a  more  joyous  heart. 
And  never  was  an  order  more  joyously 
carried  out  after  I  had  shouted  down 
into  the  central:  "Hurrah,  the  first 
German  submarine's  in  sight!" 

What  did  it  matter  that  we  stood 
upon  the  turret,  still  awash  with  oil 
and  sea-water,  or  that  the  spray  shot 
over  us — what  did  it  matter?  There, 
across  the  North  Sea,  the  first  greet- 
ing of  Germany,  of  our  great  Father- 
land, came  rushing  on.  We  forged 
ahead  at  full  speed.  All  hands  were 
on  deck,  and  in  a  short  time  both  ves- 
sels lay  within  calling  distance  of  each 
other. 

The  first  deafening  hurrahs  came 
roaring  over  to  us,  and  we  answered 
them  with  equal  power. 

[213] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


Then  we  exchanged  greetings  and 
news,  after  which  our  paths  once  more 
separated — we  toward  home — U-X  to 
its  work. 

The  day  drew  to  its  close  and  the 
night  came  down  once  more. 

So  we  swept  onward,  without  a  light 
on  deck,  without  a  light  in  the  turret, 
like  some  dark  i)hantom. 

Then,  on  the  following  morning,  as 
the  sun  arose,  we  saw  before  us  in  the 
distance  an  unmistakable  silhouette 
which  glimmered  redly  through  the 
veils  of  mist.  It  was  an  island,  a  bul- 
wark in  the  North  Sea.  Heligoland 
lay  before  us. 

Things  soon  began  to  grow  lively 
upon  the  waters.  Torpedo-boats  came 
rushing  up,  vanguard  patrols  puffed 
along,  flag  signals  flew  into  the  air,  the 
wireless    crackled.      Everywhere   mes- 

[214] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutscliland 

sages  and  greetings  came  flying  toward 
us,  and  then  the  iron  ring  of  the  Ger- 
man fleet  which  holds  its  trusty  watch 
out  there  upon  the  seas,  closed  about 
our  little  Deutschland.  Under  its  pro- 
tection we  now  steered  past  Heligoland 
toward  our  own  home  port.  While  we 
were  already  approaching  the  well- 
known  waters,  and  before  the  low 
sandy  stretches  of  the  home  coast  came 
into  view,  we  were  treated  to  a  spec- 
tacle of  overwhelming  magnificence — 
a  greeting  such  as  had  never  been  on 
land  or  sea — and  carried  out  with  the 
most  amazing  dash. 

We  saw  two  immense  birds  lift 
themselves  from  the  land.  They  were 
two  hydroplanes,  which  came  on  at  ter- 
rific speed  and  then  alighted  like  two 
gigantic  water-fowl  upon  the  lightly 
heaving  swell.    They  then  shot,  slightly 

[215] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

skimming  the  surface  of  the  sea  with 
their  floats,  to  within  a  stone's  tlirow 
of  the  Deutschland,  Here  they  made  a 
lightning  turn  and  came  rattling  past 
us,  turned  again  and  then  literally 
hopped  over  us,  roaring  close  above 
our  turret  with  a  shouting  of  hurrahs 
and  a  swinging  of  caps.  .  .  . 

Such  was  our  reception  by  the 
youngest  arm  of  the  German  Navy. 

Comparisons  are  odious. 

But  as  we  once  more  neared  the  Ger- 
man coast,  and  felt  ourselves  sur- 
rounded by  the  protecting  arm  of  the 
German  navy,  it  was  impossible  for 
me  to  help  comparing  this  with  our 
arrival  in  America. 

Surely  no  one  could  have  been  re- 
ceived more  heartily  nor  with  greater 
enthusiasm  than  we  had  been  by  the 
Americans.     An   easygoing   and   care- 

[216] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

free  peo^Dle  had.  taken  pleasure  in  a 
daring,  adventurous  act,  and  had.  ex- 
pressed its  sympathy  for  an  enterprise 
that  was  novel  and  unheard-of,  and 
which  called  for  men. 

But  here  we  were  more  than  daring 
and  successful  adventurers.  Here  our 
own  people  once  more  took  us  to  their 
hearts  as  peaceful  combatants  in  their 
glorious  struggle.  Here  was  revealed 
to  us  the  insi^iring  vision  of  their 
power  beneath  the  sea,  upon  the  sea, 
and  in  the  air.  This  was  to  me  the 
significance  of  that  splendid  greeting 
given  us  by  the  airmen.  This  is  what 
I  felt  when  we  were  convoyed  by  the 
patrol  boats  to  the  estuary  of  the 
"Weser,  where  we  cast  anchor  before 
the  Hohen  Weg  lighthouse — once  more 
in  German  ground. 

[217] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


XV 

HOW  GERMANY  WELCOMED 
US  BACK 

Feom  the  roads  of  Heligoland  to  the 
estuary  of  the  Weser  we  had  been  wel- 
comed by  the  navy,  but  on  the  voyage 
up  the  Weser,  and  in  Bremen,  we  were 
welcomed  by  an  entire  people. 

On  the  afternoon  of  August  23d  the 
Deutschland  had  cast  anchor  at  the 
Weser 's  mouth.  The  wires  had  at 
once  spread  the  tidings  through  the 
entire  German  Empire,  the  longed-for 
tidings  which  awakened  such  un- 
bounded joy. 

We  were  surprised  and  proud  to 
learn  that  the  arrival  of  the  Deutsch- 
land had  been  made  the  occasion  of  a 

[218] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

festal  day  for  the  entire  German  peo- 
ple, and  that  a  reception  was  preparing 
for  our  little  boat  along  the  banlvs  of 
the  Weser  such  as  had  seldom  fallen 
to  the  lot  of  a  fortunate  ship.  Our 
journey  up  the  Weser  shaped  itself 
to  a  triumphal  progress  beyond  all 
comparison.  Behind  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  who  had  come  to  cheer  us 
from  the  banks  of  the  river  stood  in- 
visible millions  of  the  German  people, 
all  imbued  with  the  same  emotion. 

This  expressed  itself  everj^^here  in 
exuberant  manifestations  of  joy  and 
pride,  by  old  and  young,  by  high  and 
low — from  the  German  Kaiser  to  the 
humblest  dock-laborer  and  the  tiniest 
cabin-boy  who  waved  his  little  flag  in 
Bremen  and  shouted  out  of  sheer  de- 
light. 

Among  all  the  expressions  of  ecstatic 

[  219  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

joy  with  which  we  were  deluged,  I  was 
particularly  moved  by  one — a  stirring 
poem  which  was  sent  to  me  by  Hans 
Dowidat,  Chief  Stoker  aboard  the 
Posen,  the  day  after  our  arrival ; 

"U-DEUTSCHLAND" 

Das  war  ein  Jubel  von  Ohr  zu  Ohr, 
Ein  deutsches  U-Boot  in  Baltimore, 
Ein  deutsches  U-Boot  gefahrumstellt, 
Tragt  deutsche  Waren  von  Welt  zu  Welt! 
Und  wie  auch  der  Brite  die  Tat  verdreht 
Und  wie  sie  alle  geflucht  und  geschmaht; 
Stolz  flatterte  dennoch  die  Flagge  empor 
Am  deutschen  U-Boot  in  Baltimore ! 

"Good  day,  Kaptan,  woher  die  Fahrt?" 
"Wir  kommen  von  Bremen,  sind  deutsche  Art!" 
"Von  Deutschland?    Well,  das  nenn'  ich  kiihn, 
Ja,  liess  euch  der  Brite  denn  ruhig  ziehn  1 ' ' 
''Was  kehrt  uns  Franzen-  und  Britenlug? 
Wir  fahren,  wo  Wasser  um  unseren  Bug, 
Wir  fahren,  wo  Wasser  um  unser  Deck 
Und  wissen  von  keinem  Britenschreck ! 

[220] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


Doch  ist  es  dir  reeht,  so  machen  wir, 
Freund  Yankee,  jetzt  ein  Geschaft  rait  dir. 
Wir  bringen  so  manches,  was  Uncle  Sam 
Schon  lange  nicht  mehr  in  sein  Land  bekam." 
"Well,  das  ist  gut,  ieh  sage  yes; 
Denn  business  bleibt  business ! ' ' 

Da  hub  sicli  geschaftiges  Leben  am  Kai, 
Gewichtige  Krane  rollten  herbei, 
Die  schrien  und  kreischten  und  summten  dumpf, 
Die  tauchten  hinein  in  des  Schiffes  Rumpf 
Und  hoben  die  Werte,  die  deutsche  Hand, 
tjber  —  und  unter  das  Meer  gesandt. 
Das  war  ein  Larmen,  das  war  ein  Klang 
In  Bunker  und  Zelle,  in  Last  und  Tank, 
Und  draussen  das  Volk  von  Amerika, 
Staunend  das  deutsche  Wunder  sah  ! — 

Leer  die  Bunker  und  leer  die  Last, 

Wieder  hebt  sich  larmende  Hast, 

Doch  der  Kran,  der  nun  in  das  Boot  sich  taucht, 

Tragt  fremde  Waren,  die  Deutschland  braucht ! — 


So  schafften  die  Deutschen  in  Baltimore — 
Franzosen,  Russen  und  Briten  im  Chor 
Sehwuren  mit  einem  griisslichen  Schwur 
Niemals  lenkt  heimwarts  das  Boot  die  Spur, 

[221] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscMand 


"Wo  wir  es  treffen  im  Meeresrund, 
Muss  es  mit  Mann  und  Mans  auf  den  Grund!" 
Sie  haben  den  Hafen  mit  Schiffen  umsaumt, 
Sie  haben  von  kostlichem  Fange  getraumt, 
Sie  haben  geharrt  und  haben  gewacht, 
Sie  haben  gelauert  bei  Tag  und  Nacht 
Und  hatten  nur  eins,  nur  eins  im  Sinn, 
Die  "Deutschland"  darf  nicht  naeh  Deutseh- 
land  hin ! 

Es  ging  die  Zeit,  und  es  kam  der  Tag, 
Da  klar  zur  Keise  "  U-Deutschland "  lag, 
Und  wie  die  Hebel  auf  "Fahrt"  gestellt, 
Da  lauschte  mit  stockendem  Atem  die  Welt! 
All  unsre  Feinde  in  West  and  Ost, 
Sie  harrten  nur  einer,  nur  einer  Post : 
"Das  Boot,  das  uns  so  sehr  gekrankt, 
Liegt  auf  dem  Meeresgrund  versenkt!" 

Doeh  die  "  Deutschland "  fuhr  und  all  ihr 

Gesehrei, 
All  ihre  Schwiire  verflogen  wie  Spreu. 
Die  "Deutsehland"  fuhr,  und  keine  Gewalt 
Bot  ihrem  ruhmreichen  Wege  halt ! 
Wohl  ging  noeh  oftmals  die  Sonne  auf,    * 
Es  richten  sieh  Tage  zum  Wochenlauf. 
Frug  mancher  sorgend  im  deutschen  Land : 
Wann  endlich  kehrt  sie  zum  Heimatstrand  ? 

[222] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

Und  nun  kam  der  Tag,  und  nun  fliegt  das  Wort 
Durch  hundert  Millionen  Kehlen  fort, 
Das  Wort,  das  nimmer  verklingt  und  verjahrt: 
"  *U-Deutschland,'  *U-Deutschland'  ist  heimge- 
kehrt!" 

Hans  Dowidat, 
Oherheizer  auf  S.  M.  S.  "Posen." 
Wohnschiff  "Agir." 

Early  on  the  morning  of  August  25th 
the  Deutschland  began  her  pageant- 
like progress  up  the  Weser.  The  rain 
came  clown  in  streams,  but  nothing 
was  able  to  disturb  the  general  air  of 
jubilation  as  we  went  on  our  way,  ac- 
companied by  a  convoy  of  steamers, 
and  our  masts  and  turret  decorated 
with  flowers.  Toward  8  o'clock  in  the 
morning  we  arrived  in  the  roadstead 
of  Bremerhaven. 

Dun-colored  clouds  hung  low  in  the 
skies  and  let  fall  their  heavy  showers 
upon  the  thousands  who  stood  along 

[223] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

the  dykes  or  came  to  meet  us  on  steam- 
ers, lighters,  launches  and  in  row- 
boats. 

Thunderous  hurrahs  came  echoing 
to  us  from  the  city,  and  the  chime  of 
bells  mingled  with  these  shouts  and 
cheers.  But  high  over  everything  else 
we  heard  the  strains  of  the  song 
* '  Deutschland,  Deutschland  liber  Alles. ' ' 
That  song  was  precisely  75  years  old 
upon  this  day. 

We  took  a  Weser  pilot  aboard  and 
continued  on  our  way.  In  Norden- 
ham,  Brake  and  Blumenthal  we  were 
greeted  with  flags,  with  crashing  sal- 
voes of  guns — factories  and  steam 
sirens  sent  up  their  roaring  salutes. 
The  Lloyd  steamers  bid  us  welcome 
and  flag-wagged  us  their  felicitations 
for  which  we  thanked  them  in  like 
fashion.     We  passed  Vegesack.     The 

[  224  ] 


z 


:t 


X 


A 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

work  at  the  Vulcan  Docks  was  stand- 
ing still,  and  hundreds  of  worlonen 
crowded  the  quays.  Their  thunderous 
hurrahs  greeted  us,  and  from  now  on 
our  advance  became  more  and  more 
triumx^hal.  The  population  of  Vege- 
sack  stood  assembled  along  the  piers 
and  the  river  banks.  Here  too,  there 
was  music  and  song,  a  thunder  of  guns 
and  a  storm  of  cheers.  The  ranks  grew 
steadily  denser  the  nearer  the  ship  ap- 
proached its  home  haven.  Shortly  be- 
fore noon  we  reached  Lankenau,  whose 
lagoon  seemed  crowded  with  all  the 
inhabitants  of  Bremen,  Avho  seemed  to 
have  chosen  it  as  a  coign  of  vantage. 
We  saw  the  people,  a  veritable  sea  of 
heads,  waving  their  hats,  umbrellas 
and  handkerchiefs.  The  siDectacle  was 
simply  indescribable,  this  apparently 
endless     multitude,     these     thousands 


15 


[225] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutsckland 

upon  thousands,  like  a  black  and  liv- 
ing sea  across  which  there  passed  a 
tidal  motion  of  waving  umbrellas,  glim- 
mering white  muslin  and  hands,  hands, 
hands.  .  .  . 

Precisely  at  noon  the  Deutscliland 
entered  the  free  harbor  and  made  fast 
to  the  pier,  which  was  decorated  in 
festal  manner. 

Here  the  Grand  Duke  of  Oldenburg, 
Representatives  of  the  Senate,  and  the 
citizens,  and  of  the  military  and  civic 
authorities — among  them  Count  Zeppe- 
lin— were  assembled  to  receive  us. 

As  soon  as  the  ship  was  made  fast, 
I  ordered  the  crew  on  deck.  Herr 
Alfred  Lohmann,  the  founder  and 
j)resident  of  the  Deutsche  Reederei 
Gesellschaft,  greeted  us  as  follows: 

*'Your  Highness!  Your  Magnifi- 
cence!     Your    Excellencies!      Gentle- 

[226] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

men !  At  this  historical  moment,  which 
marks  the  return  of  the  world's  first 
submarine,  after  covering  8,500  nauti- 
cal miles,  I  welcome  to  their  home 
haven  our  Deutschland  and  her  gallant 
crew.  I  welcome  them,  not  only  in  the 
name  of  our  Companj^,  but  in  the  name 
of  the  entire  German  nation. 

*'She  stole  out  of  the  Weser,  her 
existence  known  only  to  a  trusted  few, 
she  crept  through  and  underneath  the 
English  fleet,  and  on  the  10th  of  July 
she  brought  her  valuable  cargo  of  dye- 
stuffs  safe  into  Baltimore.  Her  arrival 
was  a  surprise  to  the  whole  world. 
Only  a  short  time  before  her  appear- 
ance even  shipping  experts  had  pro- 
nounced such  an  undertaking  to  be  im- 
possible. 

*^It  was  particularly  agreeable  to  me 
to  be  assured  of  the  warm  interest  and 

[227] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscMand 

satisfaction  with  which  the  Deutsch- 
land's  arrival  in  America  was  greeted 
by  all  true  Americans — that  is  to  say, 
by  all  Americans  possessed  of  the  free 
spirit  of  Washington  and  Franklin,  all 
whose  judgment  had  not  been  warped 
by  subservience  to  the  English  mam- 
mon. 

"Our  Company  takes  pride  in  the 
thought  that  it  has  succeeded,  in  the 
very  midst  of  war,  in  sending  dye- 
stuifs  to  America  under  the  German 
flag.  America  herself,  on  the  contrary, 
is  not  even  able  to  secure  the  immunity 
of  her  post  from  Europe.  I  shall  not 
mention  the  many  other  breaches  of 
international  and  naval  law  committed 
against  the  neutrals,  and  especially  the 
smaller  nations,  by  our  enemies. 

"Yes,  the  crew  of  the  DeutscMand 
have  done  a  great  work.     If  the  ship 

[228] 


Voyage  of  the  Deiitschland 


gave  no  warning  of  her  setting-out, 
none  the  less  her  departure  from  Balti- 
more was  openly  announced.  'It  was 
like  a  triumphal  procession,'  wrote 
Havas.  *It  was  a  symbol  of  freedom,' 
we  Germans  think,  dreaming  of  the 
*  Right  of  the  Nations  to  the  Freedom 
of  the  Seas.' 

**Our  enemies  could  not  hinder  the 
DeutscJiland's  departure  from  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  and  a  blockade  of  the 
North  Sea  did  not  exist  for  her.  The 
goods  which  lie  before  us  at  this  mo- 
ment, goods  worth  many  millions  of 
marks,  all  brought  from  America  by 
the  Deutschland,  are  sufficient  proof  of 
that. 

"The  officers  and  crew  have  per- 
formed a  feat  of  seamanship  which  is 
worthy  of  our  Hanseatic  forefathers! 
The  news  of  the  return  of  the  Deutsch- 

[229] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

land  has  been  received  with  the  live- 
liest joy  in  all  the  states  of  the  German 
Empire,  and  in  the  countries  of  our 
faithful  allies.  But  especially  deep  is 
the  feeling  of  our  brothers  out  in  the 
trenches  and  in  the  Navy. 

"The  Company  has  awaited  this  re- 
turn with  an  absolute  confidence  in  the 
ability,  the  foresight  and  the  sense  of 
duty  of  the  Deutschland' s  crew.  After 
these  trjdng  weeks  of  close  confinement 
to  this  little  ship,  always  face  to  face 
with  ruthless  enemies,  I  bid  them  all 
a  hearty  welcome  home. 

"And  I  give  expression  to  the  grati- 
tude we  feel  by  calling  for  three  cheers 
for  the  Deutschland,  her  Commander, 
Captain  Konig,  the  officers  and  the 
crew!    Hurrah!  hurrah!  hurrah!" 

I  answered  with  a  short:  "Long  live 
the   Senate  and  the   citizenry;  of  the 

[230] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

Free  Hansa  City  of  Bremen" — lustily 
supported  by  my  men. 

Patriotic  airs  came  to  us  from  a 
neighboring  Lloyd  steamer,  the  Frank- 
furt— after  which  we  went  on  land  and 
were  presented  one  after  the  other  to 
the  guests  of  honor.  The  recejDtion  was 
simple  and  dignified,  and  therefore  the 
more  edifying. 

After  overcoming  a  distance  of  some 
8,450  nautical  miles,  of  which  not  more 
than  190  were  covered  under  water,  the 
first  of  all  merchant  submarines  had 
come  back  to  its  native  port.  The 
U-DeutscMand's  voyage  to  America 
was  over. 


On  the  evening  of  this  memorable 
day,  a  big  state  banquet  took  place  in 
the  old  Eathaus  at  Bremen.     It  was 

[231] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

given  by  the  Senate  of  the  City  in 
celebration  of  the  return  of  the 
Deutschland.  The  s]3eeches  made  upon 
this  occasion  give  a  brief  outline  of 
the  circumstances  which  led  to  the 
building  of  the  Deutschland.  It  will 
therefore  prove  interesting  to  quote 
them  here. 

Burgomaster  Dr.  Barkhausen  had 
bidden  the  guests  welcome  with  hospi- 
table words,  had  communicated  a  reso- 
lution of  the  Senate  to  the  effect  that 
a  special  medal  was  to  be  struck  in 
commemoration  of  this  day,  and  had 
toasted  the  Deutsche  Ocean  Reederei 
and  the  crew  of  the  Deutschland, 

In  the  name  of  the  Eeederei,  or 
Shipowners,  their  President,  Dr.  A. 
Lohmann,  now  replied  as  follows: 

*'Your  Magnificence,  your  Excellen- 
cies, gentlemen!     In  the  name  of  the 

[232] 


Voyage  of  the  Deiitschland 

Commander  of  the  JDeutscliland,  Cap- 
tain Konig,  and  Ms  officers  and  crew, 
I  express  profound  thanks  to  the  high 
Senate,  adding  to  them  those  of  our 
Company,  for  the  high  honor  which 
the  Senate  has  bestowed  upon  the  crew 
of  the  Deutscliland,  by  means  of  the 
medal  which  is  to  serve  as  a  memento 
of  this  peaceful  achievement  of  com- 
merce in  the  midst  of  war.  For  the 
appreciative  words  regarding  the  ac- 
tivities of  my  co-workers  and  myself, 
I  express  my  deepest  thanks  to  your 
Magnificence.  Since  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  I  have  gladly  and  willingly 
devoted  my  activities  to  the  welfare  of 
the  State.  The  conviction  that  our 
splendid  people,  despite  the  over- 
whelming forces  of  their  enemies,  were 
not  to  be  conquered  in  this  war  which 
they  are  waging  for  the  sake  of  their 

[233] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

national  independence  and  freedom, 
the  conviction  that  the  spiritual  forces 
and  the  trust  which  animates  our  en- 
tire people,  that  the  thorough  training 
undergone  since  the  Wars  of  Libera- 
tion, and  the  natural  devotion  of  duty 
which  has  been  inherited  by  every  Ger- 
man, could  never  be  overborne,  has 
been  the  guiding  motive  in  all  my 
work.  And  everywhere  did  I  find 
trusting  fellow  workers  who  thought  as 
I  did. 

*'I  therefore  wish  to  express  my 
thanks  to  all  these  collaborators  of 
mine.  My  special  gratitude  is  due  to 
Director  Stapelfeldt  and  to  my  col- 
league, Director-General  Heineken  and 
Commercial  Councillor  Herrmann. 

"The  Deutsche  Ocean  Eeederei,  as 
already  alluded  to  by  Your  Magnifi- 
cence, was  founded  in  all  secrecy.    Its 

[234] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

task  was  to  lie  entirely  in  the  trans- 
portation of  goods  of  the  highest  value. 
It  was  necessary  to  purchase  the  raw 
materials  in  America  with  the  utmost 
caution,  to  store  them  safely,  to  secure 
a  safe  anchorage  for  the  Deutschland, 
and  protect  her  from  all  attacks.  This 
was  done  in  the  most  admirable  way  by 
Mr.  Paul  (jr.  L.  Hilken  and  his  father,  as 
well  as  Captain  Hinsch  and  his  assist- 
ants. The  part  played  by  Captain 
Konig,  his  officers  and  crew,  in  this 
project,  has  already  been  conveyed  to 
your  Magnificence.  I,  for  my  part, 
speaking  in  the  name  of  the  Company, 
once  more  wish  to  express  my  thanks 
to  my  co-workers  upon  the  Deutsch- 
land. It  will  interest  you,  gentlemen, 
to  learn  something  concerning  the  his- 
tory of  the  Deutsche  Ocean  Reederei, 
and  of  the  evolution  of  the  Deutsch- 

[  235  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

land,  the  Bremen^  and  their  still  un- 
named sister  ship. 

*'When,  in  September,  1915,  it 
became  clear  that,  in  spite  of  all  the 
successes  of  the  Central  Powers,  the 
war  would  very  likely  last  for  months 
longer,  it  became  apparent  that  the 
question  of  suppljdng  Germany  with 
rubber  and  metals  might  become  a 
burning  one.  I  therefore  consulted 
with  the  'Weser'  stock  company,  after 
having  had  an  interview  with  a  promi- 
nent expert  in  shipbuilding.  The 
*Weser'  Company  expressed  itself  as 
ready  to  draw  up  plans  for  a  subma- 
rine of  about  500  tons  capacity.  These 
plans  were  delivered  to  me  on  the  3rd 
of  October;  a  period  of  building  was 
estimated  at  eleven  months — deliver- 
able on  the  1st  of  September,  1916, 
since  the  motors  would  first  have  to  be 

[236] 


Voyage  of  the  Beutschland 


built.  It  was  apparent  that  we  should 
have  to  make  an  effort  to  attain  our 
goal  somewhat  earlier.  Almost  simul- 
taneously, and  without  our  knowledge, 
the  Germania  Docks  of  Kiel  sub- 
mitted to  their  parent  house,  the  Fred- 
erick Krupp  Co.,  plans  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  submarine  of  some  700 
tons  freight  capacity — this  about  the 
beginning  of  October. 

*'The  Germania  yard  wished  to  de- 
liver the  first  boat  in  the  short  time  of 
six  months — that  is  to  say,  in  April. 
Both  these  plans  expressed  absolute 
assurance  in  the  feasibility  of  the  idea. 
I  would  like  to  compare  this  conjunc- 
tion with  a  happy  marriage,  in  which 
the  same  thought  animates  the  man 
and  the  woman.  The  docks  were  the 
mother  which  gave  birth  to  the  child; 
the  father  was  the  company,  which  was 

[  237  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 

to  lead  the  child  forth  into  the  world. 
The  soul  and  spirit  of  this  infant  en- 
terprise were  evidenced  through  our 
Captain,  his  officers  and  crew,  who 
have  fulfilled  this  splendid  achieve- 
ment of  taking  the  Deutschland  to 
America  and  back. 

**0n  the  15th  of  October,  we  came  to 
terms,  and  the  two  boats  were  given  by 
the  Syndicate  to  the  Germania  docks 
to  build.  The  Deutschland  was  deliv- 
ered at  the  beginning  of  April.  It  is 
a  brilliant  masterpiece  of  the  Ger- 
mania docks  and,  as  we  are  accustomed 
to  expect  in  all  work  that  bears  the 
name  of  Frederick  Krupp,  perfect  in 
its  execution.  Captain  Konig  was  able 
to  report  from  America  that  all  was  in 
perfect  order  after  his  4,000-mile  trip. 
The  same  applies  to  his  report  made 
upon  his  arrival  at  Bremen. 

[238] 


Voijage  of  the  Deutschland 

*'Tliis  co-operation  bet^Yeen  spirit 
and  force,  this  utilization  of  all  the 
new  and  scientific  inventions,  as  well 
as  an  elevated  sense  of  duty  are  the 
factors  that  have  made  the  Germania 
Docks  great.  To-day  when  the  Deutsch- 
land has  returned  to  us,  we  stand  face 
to  face  with  a  new  achievement  in  the 
art  of  shipbuilding,  and  for  this,  too, 
the  German  people  give  thanks  to  this 
enterprise.  I  trust  that  you  will  give 
expression  to  this  feeling  by  three 
cheers  in  honor  of  the  Germania 
Docks.'' 


After  the  next  course,  Director  Zetz- 
mann,  of  the  Germania  Docks,  made 
the  following  speech: 

''Your  Magnificence,  your  Excellen- 
cies, gentlemen!  I  have  the  honor  to 
express    my   heartiest    thanks    to    the 

[239] 


Voyage  of  the  DeutscJiland 

Senate — in  the  name  of  the  Germania 
Docks — for  the  privilege  of  participat- 
ing in  this  festival.  I  also  wish  to  ex- 
press my  thanks  to  my  predecessor, 
Dr.  Alfred  Lohmann,  for  the  kind 
things  he  has  said  of  my  firm,  in  whose 
name  I  thank  him.  Herr  Lohmann  has 
told  you  many  interesting  things  re- 
garding the  evolution  of  his  company. 
Permit  me  to  give  you  a  few  facts 
from  the  workshops  in  which  the 
Deutscliland  and  the  Bremen  origi- 
nated. It  was  not  easy  to  come  to  the 
conclusion  to  undertake  the  building 
of  such  a  boat,  not  because  we  feared 
the  mechanical  difficulties,  but  because 
we  scarcely  ventured  to  risk  tasking 
our  construction  bureaus  still  further, 
burdened  as  they  already  were  with 
war  contracts. 

''We  at  first  proceeded  to  work  along 

[240] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutscliland 

the  models  of  the  war  submarines, 
thinking  this  would  lessen  the  labor  of 
construction.  We  discovered,  however, 
that  this  did  not  lead  to  the  desired 
results  as  far  as  cargo  capacity  and 
storage  room  were  concerned.  We  had 
to  proceed  on  more  radical  lines — not 
to  develop  a  freighter  from  a  cruiser — 
but  to  create  a  new  type  of  freighter. 
**Our  constructors  now  went  to  work 
with  a  fiery  enthusiasm,  and  the  plans 
were  soon  ready.  .  .  .  Herr  Krupp 
von  Bohlen  declared  that  a  boat  of 
this  type  could  be  built  and  should  be 
built  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  so 
the  Germania  Docks  were  ordered  to 
begin  work  at  once.  There  were,  of 
course,  various  inevitable  delays. 
About  the  middle  of  October,  1915,  we 
first  came  in  touch  with  Dr.  Alfred 
Lohmann.  From  that  meeting  resulted 

^^  [  241  ] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


the  marriage  wliich  he  has  described — 
war-nuptials  as  swift  as  any  that  the 
present  time  has  produced.  I  have  but 
one  more  thing  to  sa}^ — if  we  were  able 
to  complete  this  boat  in  so  short  a  time, 
it  is  owing,  not  only  to  the  head  firm, 
but  to  all  sub-contractors  as  well. 
Builders,  owners  and  crews  of  the 
ships,  all  worked  harmoniously  to- 
gether. The  trial  trips  went  off 
smoothly.  AVe  saw  the  ship  set  out 
upon  her  trial  voyage  with  the  greatest 
confidence.  Our  faith  has  been  glori- 
ously justified.  May  many  such  suc- 
cessful voyages  be  carried  out  by  the 
Deutschland  and  her  sister  ships  for 
the  welfare  of  our  beloved  Fatherland 
and  the  fame  of  the  venerable  Hansa 
city  of  Bremen! 

*' To-day's  festival  will  remain  a  life- 
long memory  to  all  who  have  taken 

[242] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschlancl 

part  in  it.  .  .  .  When  the  new  portion 
of  the  Rathaus  has  become  as  vener- 
able as  the  old,  men  will  relate  to  each 
other  that  the  lucky  voyage  of  the  first 
merchant  submarine  in  the  world  was 
celebrated  Avithin  these  walls.  .  .  .'* 


There  had  been  no  announcement  of 
a  public  celebration  in  the  market- 
l^lace,  but  in  the  evening,  the  crowd, 
following  its  own  instinct,  streamed 
toward  this  center.  People  of  all 
classes  were  represented,  and  when  the 
Bremen  military  band  took  up  a  posi- 
tion on  the  steps  of  the  Exchange  and 
began  to  play  the  place  was  quite  full. 

A  more  charming  celebration  could 
not  be  imagined  than  that  which  now 
began.  The  patriotic  feelings  of  the 
multitude  continually  reached  a  pitch 
where  they  could  only  find  relief  in 

[243] 


Voyage  of  the  Deutschland 


song.  Here  and  there  a  voice  would 
strike  up  and  at  once  the  whole  assem- 
bly would  fall  in. 

Again  and  again  the  cries  rang 
forth:  "Lolnnann!  Zeppelin!  Konig!" 
So  that  we  were  obliged  to  obey  the 
voice  of  the  people,  and  stepped  out  on 
the  balcony  with  the  crew. 

We  were  met  with  a  hurricane  of 
cheers.  The  multitude  joined  in  the 
toast  to  the  Kaiser  which  I  proposed. 
To  the  joy  of  all,  Count  Zeppelin  took 
up  the  word  and  spoke  in  short,  power- 
ful sentences,  audible  for  a  long  dis- 
tance. In  a  voice  as  clear  as  that  of 
a  young  man,  he  said : 

^'Deutschland,  Deutschland  iiber 
alles!  Three  cheers  for  Bremen  and 
her  sons!  Wliat  shall  I  say  to  you? 
When  one  sees  the  feeling  which  ani- 
mates the  German  people,  one  cannot 

[244] 


Voyage  of  the  DeiUscJiland 

doubt  that  the  victory  will  be  ours! 
Hurrah!" 

These  words  called  forth  unbounded 
rejoicing,  as  well  as  those  which  I 
spoke  in  full  confidence: 

*'We  got  through! — ^we  always  get 
through!  It  is  our  dut}^  to  conquer 
the  English  with  our  U-boats  and  to 
hold  out." 

In  answer  to  the  universal  demand, 
Dr.  Lohmann  himself  finally  stepped 
to  the  railing  of  the  balcony  and  de- 
voted a  few  pithy  words  to  the  ser- 
vices rendered  b}^  Count  Zeppelin — 
and  your  humble  servant. 

After  Dr.  Lohmann 's  s^Deech,  the 
band  played  the  hynni  of  thanksgiving, 
"Wir  treten  mit  Beten  vor  Gott  den 
Gerechten"  (To  the  God  of  Justice 
we  offer  our  prayers),  w^hich  was  sung 
by  everybody. 

[245] 


Voyage  of  the  JDeutschland 

Meanwhile,  darlaiess  had  fallen,  and 
in  the  glow  of  the  electric  lights,  the 
market  place,  as  seen  from  the  old 
Rathaus,  itself  streaming  with  light, 
presented  a  wonderful  spectacle.  No 
one  wanted  to  bring  this  delightful 
celebration  to  an  end.  The  singing 
continued  indefatigably.  Then  Burgo- 
master Dr.  Barkhausen,  the  President 
of  the  Senate,  rose  to  speak.    He  said : 

**We  have  assembled  here  to  ratify 
once  more  our  determination  that  the 
spirit  which  has  been  with  the  Deutsch- 
land  on  her  voyage,  the  spirit  of  the 
German  people,  the  spirit  which  will 
lead  us  to  victory,  shall  never  die.  As 
a  fitting  close  to  this  wonderful  even- 
ing, I  once  more  cry:  ^Deutschland, 
Deutschland  liber  allesi  Long  live 
Kaiser  and  Empire!'  '' 

The  words  were  again  received  with 

[246] 


Voi/age  of  the  Beutscliland 

enthusiasm.  But  the  gentle  hint  that 
it  was  time  to  bring  the  festivities  to 
an  end  went  as  yet  unlieeded. 

Once  more  I  was  forced  to  address 
the  crowd.  I  made  it  shoii  and  sweet; 
direct  from  the  heart — 

"Good  night!  I  am  dreadfully 
tired!" 

And  so  ended  this  unforgettable  day 
in  the  history  of  Germany  and  of 
Bremen. 


[247] 


JA 

J I 


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